Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) introduced legislation on Thursday aimed at enshrining a strategic reserve for Bitcoin in federal law, seeking to cement one of President Donald Trump’s core campaign promises for digital asset holders ahead of the high-stakes U.S. midterm elections.
The American Reserve Modernization Act, or ARMA, would direct the Treasury Department to create and maintain a reserve of the digital asset for a minimum of 20 years, while establishing a stockpile for other cryptocurrencies held by the government.
The legislation also mandates the consolidation of what is believed to be billions of dollars in digital assets held across federal agencies—attained through actions like forfeitures and penalties—while providing transparency through a proof-of-reserve report.
As of last month, the strategic reserve for Bitcoin that Trump created via executive order is still a work in progress. At a conference in Las Vegas, Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said the current administration has spent months “figuring out” the legal interpretations associated with the initiative.
“Administrations have auctioned [crypto] off or held it in reserve, according to the whims of the executive branch,” Golden said in a statement, noting that a stockpile created under the ARMA Act would enjoy the “weight of law.”
“Typically, when the government holds strategic reserves, it is for an essential input that powers the U.S. economy and day-to-day life for American families,” she said. “Crypto, however, does not fall into these categories, because it has no inherent value.”
Although the much-hyped stockpile’s creation represented a symbolic win for the digital assets industry, the government has yet to announce any allocations. Last year, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) re-introduced the BITCOIN Act, a bill that directs the Treasury to purchase 1 million Bitcoin over five years in a way that seeks to avoid taxing citizens.
Decrypt has reached out to Begich and Golden for comment.
