The Bitcoin Beacon
A bipartisan bill would house a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve inside the Treasury — with a 20-year lock-up, quarterly proof-of-reserve, and coins seized from criminals as the seed.
Washington has talked about a strategic bitcoin reserve for over a year. Now there’s text to argue over: the American Reserve Modernization Act (H.R. 8957), from Reps. Nick Begich and Jared Golden, published in full in May.
Consolidation. Federal bitcoin — mostly forfeitures scattered across agencies — would move under Treasury into a formal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, seeded from coins the government already holds. No taxpayer purchases, answering the loudest objection.
The guardrails are the interesting part: a 20-year lock-up, quarterly public proof-of-reserve attestations, independent audits, Comptroller General oversight. An attempt to make a government stash transparent and hard to raid.
A reserve isn’t a trade. It’s a multi-decade bet dressed in audit requirements.
Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s digital-asset council, says a reserve announcement is coming “in the next few weeks.” Bill, executive action, or something narrower — unclear. The direction isn’t.
The precedent matters more than the coins: a G7 government treating bitcoin as a permanent, audited reserve asset hands every watching finance ministry a template — and India’s flirtation with the same idea says several are watching. A published bill is not a passed one.
Editor’s note: bill numbers for strategic-reserve legislation have varied across drafts and chambers (S.954, H.R.6180, and the ARMA text reported as H.R.8957); we link the primary sources so readers can track the current vehicle.
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