The House Financial Services Committee voted 28-21 to advance a bill that would turn the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from a presidential order into federal law. The measure, called the American Reserve Modernization Act, grew out of last year's BITCOIN Act from Rep. Nick Begich and Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
Here's why that distinction matters: right now the reserve exists only because Trump signed an executive order, which a future administration could unwind just as easily. The new bill would lock Bitcoin holdings inside the Treasury on a permanent basis and create a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for other crypto seized through criminal or civil forfeiture. Coins would need to sit untouched for at least 20 years, and Treasury would have to publish quarterly proof-of-reserve reports along with independent audits.
Growth of the stockpile is meant to come from forfeitures and "budget-neutral" strategies rather than direct government spending. Washington already holds roughly 324,500 BTC, worth about $24.7 billion at current prices. The bill also lets individual states park bitcoin with the Federal Reserve and explicitly protects citizens' right to self-custody their coins.
The vote didn't split entirely along party lines. Republican Bryan Steil called the reserve "a smart financial strategy" that trims the deficit, while Democrat Bill Foster pushed back, saying he doesn't "think anyone believes bitcoin is critical to the U.S. economy" — a jab at how volatile the asset still looks on a government balance sheet. Lawyers raised a related concern back in July: without a law like this one, Treasury's authority to run the reserve at all was shaky.
The bill still needs a vote from the full House and then the Senate, where no comparable legislation has passed yet. Even backers admit a presidential signature is still months away.
