House Panel Approves Bill to Codify Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Overview

• The House Financial Services Committee approved the American Reserve Modernization Act by a 28–21 vote on Wednesday, advancing H.R. 8957 to the full House for consideration.
• The bill would create a Treasury-run Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile to hold digital assets mainly obtained through criminal and civil forfeiture.
• Qualifying Bitcoin placed into the reserve would generally be barred from sale for 20 years and Treasury must establish secure storage and reporting systems within months of enactment.
• The law would force quarterly proof-of-reserve disclosures, require independent third-party audits, make all federal agencies report their digital-asset holdings, and direct a study of budget-neutral ways to grow the reserve while banning new taxes, borrowing, or deficit spending for purchases.
• Congressional support is divided and legal questions about Treasury authority remain, the bill must clear the full House and Senate and face possible court challenges, and the measure would formalize control over roughly 324,527 federal Bitcoin now valued at about $24.7 billion.