Bitcoin Strategic Reserve bill heads to US House committee markup vote

A bill to formally establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve just cleared the House Financial Services Committee, moving one step closer to a full floor vote. The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, or H.R. 8957, would place the Treasury Department in charge of managing the federal government’s Bitcoin holdings, with a mandatory 20-year holding period with no sales allowed. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) and co-led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), has attracted more than 20 bipartisan cosponsors. A full markup is scheduled for September 16, 2026, which could send it to the entire House for a vote. What the bill actually does At its core, ARMA codifies something the federal government has been doing informally since President Trump’s 2025 executive order directing agencies to retain forfeited Bitcoin rather than auction it off. The bill turns that temporary directive into permanent law. The reserve would primarily hold Bitcoin acquired through federal forfeitures. US agencies currently hold an estimated 328,372 BTC, valued somewhere between $25B and $30B. Under ARMA, that stash gets locked in for two decades. No selling. No swapping. The bill also creates ...