New Hampshire to Issue $100M Bitcoin-Backed Bond With Speculative Moody's Rating - Coinspeaker

The New Hampshire Business Finance Authority (BFA) is set to issue $100 million in Bitcoin-collateralized bonds carrying a provisional Ba2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service – a speculative-grade designation that places this instrument two notches below the lowest investment-grade threshold and marks the first known instance of a U.S. public authority issuing debt fully backed by Bitcoin.

For municipal bond markets accustomed to state-level paper rated Aa or above, a Ba2 on a crypto-collateralized structure is not merely a footnote – it is a signal that the conventional muni buyer universe is, by mandate, largely excluded before the first coupon is cut.

We suspect the rating’s practical effect is more consequential than its headline suggests. Ba2 paper cannot be held by most municipal bond funds, pension systems operating under fiduciary investment-grade floors, or insurance company general accounts subject to NAIC capital charge rules – meaning the natural buyers here are high-yield muni investors, hedge funds, and crypto-native fixed-income allocators, a materially different compliance posture than any prior New Hampshire public authority issuance.

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BFA Bond Structure: Bitcoin Collateral, Limited Recourse, and the CleanSpark Connection

The bonds will be issued in two series – Series 2026A-1 and Series 2026A-2, both maturing in 2029 – with individual class balances not yet publicly disclosed, per Moody’s Tuesday statement. Series 2026A-2 holders are entitled to optional additional payments at maturity if Bitcoin appreciates sufficiently after principal, interest, and expenses are covered – a feature that introduces asymmetric upside exposure uncommon in conventional fixed-income structures.

The underlying borrower is NH Cleanspark Borrower Trust 2026-1, an entity linked to CleanSpark, a publicly traded Bitcoin mining firm, which posts Bitcoin as the loan collateral. BitGo Bank & Trust will serve as custodian, holding the BTC in segregated wallets, and will also act as liquidation agent – responsible for converting Bitcoin into cash to service interest and principal payments as they come due.

Crucially, the bonds are structured as limited recourse obligations, payable solely from proceeds of the Bitcoin collateral. No public funds backstop the debt. The BFA acts as lender in the underlying loan structure but carries no general obligation liability, which insulates New Hampshire taxpayers from any shortfall – though it also removes the implicit state credit support that typically underpins quasi-public authority paper.

The collateral arrangement launches at a 1.60x coverage ratio – meaning Bitcoin holdings must be worth 1.60 times the outstanding loan balance at inception. A mandatory full redemption of the bonds is triggered if that ratio deteriorates to 1.40x.

Moody’s applied a 72.06% advance rate in its analysis, factoring in Bitcoin’s price volatility and the assumption of a two-day liquidation exposure window – the period during which BitGo would be unwinding BTC positions into market depth before full settlement could occur.

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