This is probably just a distraction, but with the re-evaluation of gold there is talk that would free up a lot of money for acquiring more Bitcoin reserves, possibly a $1 trillion or more. What’s interesting is that Bitcoin is the best money around because of its finite supply, making it deflationary, and that it would take a monumental effort to print more, probably resulting in a hard fork as it would be rejected by most users and holders due to the software we run. Though, as governments and wall street keep gobbling up existing supply, the OCGFC do seem to be intent on taking it over, or at least extracting all the wealth they can from it as it grows. On the positive, as more and more supply is bought up by governments and wall street, the ability to manipulate price will diminish along with liquidity. And its still the best exit from the TradFi system robbing you of wealth through inflation and manipulation…
By Kyle Baird
Quick Take
- The bill would require quarterly public proof-of-reserve disclosures and third-party audits of government bitcoin holdings.
- ARMA would not mandate the government to buy 1 million BTC like the previously proposed BITCOIN Act.
New bipartisan legislation introduced in the House on Thursday would lock U.S. government bitcoin holdings into a strategic reserve for at least twenty years.
It is the latest congressional push to codify President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order to establish a national bitcoin stockpile.
The bill’s author, Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, alongside co-lead Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, introduced the “American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026,” or ARMA, to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and separate Digital Asset Stockpile for non-bitcoin assets held by the federal government and managed by the Treasury.
According to the bill text obtained by the Block, ARMA would require all bitcoin BTC-1.57% deposited into the reserve to sit there for a minimum of 20 years, barring the government from “selling, swapping, auctioning, encumbering, or otherwise disposing of” the assets for any reason.
After the lockup period expires, the Treasury secretary could then recommend selling up to 10% of the reserve’s assets in any two-year period.
“America should not be selling off strategic digital assets. We should be securing them for the future,” Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “This bill takes a long-term approach by requiring the United States to responsibly hold Bitcoin as part of a modern reserve strategy.”
The legislation builds on Trump’s executive order signed last year to create a bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile, mostly funded through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies already held by the federal government through criminal and civil forfeitures. This plan was reaffirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in January.
“The policy of this government is to add seized bitcoin to our digital asset reserve after the damages are done,” Bessent commented at the time. “So the bitcoin reserve, our view, was first you have to stop selling, which we have done, and then we can add the assets and asset forfeitures.”
ARMA specifics
Unlike earlier BITCOIN Act proposals that discussed acquiring up to 1 million bitcoin over five years, the ARMA draft gives no exact target and instead directs Treasury and Commerce to study whether additional acquisitions could be carried out through “budget-neutral” mechanisms.
The bill lists potential acquisition methods, like converting non-bitcoin assets, gold certificate revaluations, forfeiture proceedings, tariff revenues, and partnerships with states.
The bill would also require federal agencies to provide a full accounting of digital assets under their control within 60 days of enactment.
Unofficial data from Arkham Intelligence pegs the current value of all U.S. government crypto holdings at roughly $26 billion, largely comprised of bitcoin, ether, and USDT.
ARMA would also establish quarterly public proof-of-reserve reports, independent audits, and other congressional oversight to keep things transparent.