Begich bill would lock 1M BTC reserve, mandate 20-year hold

Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act in the House on Thursday. The bill would codify the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into federal law, require a 20-year holding period for federally held bitcoin and authorize the Treasury to acquire up to 200,000 bitcoins per year for five years. The legislation was filed with 16 original cosponsors.

The bill would convert President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order on a federal bitcoin reserve into statute. Under ARMA, federally controlled bitcoin would be placed under a minimum 20-year hold. The acquisition authority aims to build a one-million-coin reserve through purchases capped at 200,000 BTC annually for five years.

ARMA requires purchases to be budget-neutral and avoid new taxpayer spending. The funding language echoes earlier proposals that tied crypto purchases to sales or reallocations of other federal assets, an approach championed previously by Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

The 20-year retention rule would apply to bitcoin the federal government already controls from criminal forfeitures. Current estimates of those holdings range from roughly 198,000 to 328,000 BTC, stemming from cases including the Silk Road seizure and recoveries tied to the Bitfinex hack.

The bill builds on the framework of the earlier BITCOIN Act and includes provisions to establish federal custody and acquisition standards. The Bitcoin Policy Institute endorsed the package and wrote that the measure would professionalize federal custody and place the strategic bitcoin reserve on permanent legal footing through long-term holdings, budget-neutral acquisition strategies and custody standards.

Begich wrote that a government balance sheet can provide assurance during times of uncertainty and that views on durable stores of value can change over time. Committee hearings are scheduled in the coming weeks. If enacted, ARMA would set statutory rules governing how the Treasury acquires, stores and retains federal bitcoin holdings.