US Senators Renew Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Push With Sweeping New Bill
A fresh legislative push to put Bitcoin at the centre of US monetary strategy is back on the table in Washington, and this version arrives with more co-sponsors, tighter safeguards, and a clearer answer to the question that has dogged every previous attempt: where does the money come from?
The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, sponsored by Representative Nick Begich and backed by 16 bipartisan co-sponsors, sets out to formalise something the United States has stumbled into almost by accident. The federal government already holds roughly 328,372 BTC, worth about $25.5 billion at current prices and more than any other nation-state on earth. What it has never had is a policy on what to do with that pile. ARMA aims to change that.
What the bill actually proposes
At its core, ARMA would establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve held by the US Treasury, alongside a broader Digital Asset Stockpile for other cryptocurrencies that fall into federal hands. The headline number is the one that will get repeated on every trading desk and Telegram channel this week: an acquisition target of around one million Bitcoin over five years.
That figure is deliberately ambitious. It would roughly triple the government’s existing holdings and place the United States in a position no other sovereign has attempted at scale. The bill frames this not as speculation but as a long-term strategic position, comparing the reserve in spirit to the way nations hold gold.
Crucially, the legislation insists the buying must be done through budget-neutral strategies. In plain terms, no new taxpayer money is meant to fund the accumulation. Lawmakers have learned from earlier drafts that the surest way to kill a Bitcoin bill is to attach a price tag the public can see, so ARMA leans on existing Treasury mechanisms and asset management rather than fresh appropriations.
The reserve would also come with a minimum holding period of 20 years. The only carve-out allowing earlier sales is a sale made specifically to reduce the national debt, which topped $39 trillion in May 2026. That single clause does a lot of quiet work: it positions Bitcoin not as a trading instrument for the state but as a long-duration asset that can only be touched for the most serious fiscal reason.
Built on the bones of the BITCOIN Act
ARMA does not appear from nowhere. It builds directly on the BITCOIN Act first floated in July 2024 and updated in March 2025, and supporters openly describe the new bill as a second version of that earlier effort. The lineage matters, because the criticism levelled at the original draft centred on vagueness around custody, auditing, and individual rights. ARMA reads like a direct response to each of those complaints.
Patrick Witt of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets framed the progress in operational terms rather than ideological ones. He called it a breakthrough in getting everything in place, legally sound, and properly safeguarding the assets. That language is telling. The conversation in Washington has shifted from whether the state should hold Bitcoin to how it should hold it responsibly, which is a meaningful change in tone from even a year ago.
Representative Jared Golden, a co-sponsor, put the political logic plainly. The US is already one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world, he noted, yet Congress has never set a federal policy on what to do with the asset. The bill is, in that reading, less a radical bet and more an overdue tidy-up of a position the country already occupies.
The safeguards that set this version apart
For readers who have watched government crypto proposals come and go, the transparency provisions are where ARMA earns a second look.
The bill would require quarterly proof of reserve reports, the same concept that exchanges have been pressured to adopt since the collapses of 2022. It would also mandate independent third-party audits of the Bitcoin reserve, rather than leaving verification entirely in the hands of the agencies holding the coins.
Perhaps most significant for the wider crypto community is the digital property rights protection baked into the text. The bill states that the federal government may not impair an individual’s right to own or self-custody digital assets. In a year when self-custody has become a live political issue in several jurisdictions, writing that protection into a major reserve bill is a notable signal. It bundles a national accumulation strategy with an explicit promise not to come after private holders, which is precisely the combination the industry has been asking for.
Why the timing matters
The renewed push lands against a backdrop of growing institutional comfort with Bitcoin on corporate balance sheets. Reports around the same period pointed to SpaceX disclosing larger-than-expected Bitcoin holdings in an IPO filing, a reminder that the question of how serious institutions should treat Bitcoin is no longer confined to crypto-native firms.
Matt Cole, chief executive and chairman of Strive, did not hold back in his assessment, describing ARMA as potentially the single most important piece of crypto legislation to come out of Washington. That is a salesman’s framing, and it should be read with the usual caution that accompanies any executive talking up an asset he is exposed to. But the structural point underneath the hype is fair: a federal reserve policy would move Bitcoin from the margins of US monetary thinking into its formal toolkit.
It is worth being clear-eyed about the odds. A bipartisan bill with 16 co-sponsors is a serious effort, not a done deal. Reserve legislation has been introduced before and stalled. The budget-neutral mechanism, however clever, will face scrutiny from both fiscal hawks who dislike the concept and crypto purists who worry about the state hoarding supply. The 20-year lock and the debt-reduction carve-out will be argued over line by line.
What to watch next
For traders and long-term holders alike, the practical signals to track are straightforward. Watch whether ARMA picks up additional co-sponsors in the coming weeks, since momentum in co-sponsorship is usually a better predictor of survival than any single press conference. Watch how the Treasury responds to the budget-neutral funding language, because the mechanism is the part most likely to be reworked. And watch the proof of reserve and audit clauses, which, if they survive, could quietly become a template that other governments copy.
Whatever happens to this specific bill, the direction of travel is hard to miss. The United States is no longer debating whether it holds Bitcoin. It is debating how to manage what it already owns, and that is a different and far more consequential conversation. For more on the policy side, see our ongoing Bitcoin and regulation coverage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026?
ARMA is a bill sponsored by Representative Nick Begich that would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve held by the US Treasury and a Digital Asset Stockpile for other federally held cryptocurrencies. It builds on the earlier BITCOIN Act and has 16 bipartisan co-sponsors.
How much Bitcoin would the US government buy?
The bill sets an acquisition target of roughly one million Bitcoin over five years, funded through budget-neutral strategies rather than new taxpayer money. The US currently holds about 328,372 BTC, more than any other nation-state.
Can the government sell the reserve whenever it wants?
No. ARMA proposes a minimum holding period of 20 years, with the only early-sale exception being a sale made to reduce the national debt, which exceeded $39 trillion in May 2026.
Does the bill affect people who hold their own Bitcoin?
Yes, and in their favour. ARMA includes a digital property rights provision stating the federal government may not impair an individual’s right to own or self-custody digital assets.
Is the bill likely to pass?
It is too early to say. Bipartisan backing and detailed safeguards make it a more serious effort than previous attempts, but reserve bills have stalled before, and the funding mechanism and holding rules will face heavy scrutiny.
