Overview
- The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a full-committee markup of H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, putting the bill up for committee consideration.
- H.R. 8957 would create a statutory Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and require Bitcoin placed in it to remain locked for 20 years with very limited exceptions.
- The bill defines qualifying Bitcoin as coins finally forfeited in criminal or civil cases or received from certain penalties, so the reserve would be built mainly from existing government-held BTC rather than open-market purchases.
- Treasury would have to publish quarterly public cryptographic proof-of-reserve reports reviewed by independent third-party auditors and overseen by the Comptroller General to demonstrate custody of private keys.
- The legislation also sets up a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin tokens, directs a 180-day study of budget-neutral ways to add Bitcoin without new borrowing, and offers an optional program for states to place Bitcoin in segregated federal accounts.