A House committee has moved forward legislation that would write the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into federal law and impose a 20-year holding period on qualifying government-owned bitcoin. The House Financial Services Committee approved the American Reserve Modernization Act on Sept. 16 by a 28-21 vote after adopting a substitute amendment from Representative Bryan Steil.
The vote does not make the measure law. It marks a committee-stage advance, and the bill would still need approval from the full House and Senate, followed by the president’s signature, before the new requirements could take effect.
A 20-year lock on qualifying federal bitcoin
The bill would apply to bitcoin legally owned by the federal government that is not required by law for another purpose. Under the amended text approved by the committee, that bitcoin would be subject to a single 20-year holding period starting from the date the act is enacted.
During that period, bitcoin in the reserve could not be sold, swapped, auctioned, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of. Two years before the holding period expires, the Treasury Department would be required to send Congress recommendations on whether the assets should continue to be retained or be released in a controlled way.
The legislation was originally introduced in May by Representatives Nick Begich of Alaska and Jared Golden of Maine. The committee-backed amendment replaced an earlier rolling holding schedule with the current fixed 20-year timeline tied to enactment.
How it would interact with the existing executive order
The proposal would place into statute a reserve framework that currently exists under Executive Order 14233. That order already directs the federal government to operate both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile using existing executive and forfeiture authorities.
Under the executive order, the government is instructed not to sell bitcoin deposited in the reserve, while qualifying forfeited non-bitcoin digital assets may remain in the separate stockpile. If the legislation does not pass, that framework can still continue under current executive policy and existing law.
The main difference is durability. An executive order can be changed or revoked by a future president, subject to other applicable laws, while a statute cannot be undone by another executive order. Even if enacted, however, the law could still later be amended or repealed by Congress, or challenged in court.
Reporting, transfers and audit requirements
The bill would add compliance and disclosure measures beyond those contained in the executive order alone. Within 180 days of enactment, Treasury would have to establish both the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the separate Digital Asset Stockpile.
Federal agencies would then have 60 days to provide Treasury with an inventory of all bitcoin and other digital assets they hold, and would repeat that reporting annually. Once the reserve and stockpile are set up, qualifying assets would be transferred into them within 30 days.
Treasury would also be required to publish an annual proof-of-reserve report covering holdings, transactions and control of private keys. That report would be verified by an independent auditor with experience in cryptographic attestations, while the comptroller general would maintain continuing oversight. The amended bill shifted this reporting from a quarterly schedule in the introduced version to annual disclosures.
Scope of holdings and the next formal steps
Congressional action on the measure could affect a large pool of government-controlled crypto assets, much of it accumulated through law enforcement cases. According to Arkham data cited in the source report, U.S. government-linked addresses hold about 324,527 BTC, valued at roughly $26.48 billion at the displayed market price.
The bill also directs Treasury and the Commerce Department to study lawful, budget-neutral ways the government could acquire additional bitcoin, including through non-bitcoin asset sales, forfeitures, settlements and cooperative programs. At the same time, the text says that this study authority does not itself permit purchases and does not authorize borrowing, new taxes, deficit spending or the use of U.S. digital or other assets as collateral.
From here, the legislation must advance through the rest of Congress. If it is enacted, Treasury would face several early deadlines, including 180 days to establish the reserve structure and 180 days to deliver the acquisition study to Congress.
Source: news.bitcoin.com