Bitcoin Reserve Bill Clears House Committee in 28-21 Vote

The US House Committee on Financial Services voted 28-21 on Sept. 16 to advance legislation that would write President Donald Trump’s strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve executive order into permanent federal law.

The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 8957) was introduced by US Representative Nicholas Begich on May 21. It would establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile under the Department of the Treasury, both funded by digital assets seized through civil and criminal forfeiture proceedings.

Arkham Intelligence estimates the US government currently holds 324,527 BTC, valued at approximately $24.7 billion. Begich said the existing approach to managing those holdings carries serious risks.

“We cannot allow Bitcoin to be held by the federal government to languish in fragmented and inconsistent custody,” Begich said. “It poses unacceptable cybersecurity risks and fails to give an adequate accounting of what the federal government actually owns.”

The bill would impose a mandatory 20-year holding period on any Bitcoin placed in the reserve. It would also require all federal agencies to submit a full accounting of digital assets in their possession and mandate quarterly proof-of-reserve reports supported by third-party audits.

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Further provisions would direct a study of budget-neutral strategies for expanding the reserve and allow states to store their own Bitcoin holdings with the Federal Reserve. The bill includes language affirming private ownership and self-custody rights, describing control of private keys as “fundamental to the principles of financial sovereignty, privacy, and personal liberty in the digital age.”

Bitcoin Policy Institute executive director Connor Brown called the committee vote “a genuinely historic step for Bitcoin policy.” Strive CEO Matt Cole had previously described the bill as “the single most important crypto legislation that can come out of DC” when it was first introduced in May.

The committee vote moves the bill past one procedural stage. It still requires approval from the full House and the Senate before it can be sent to the president for signature.

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