US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established as long-term national asset under executive order

The United States now holds roughly 328,372 BTC, worth approximately $25 billion, as part of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established by executive order in March 2025. That makes the US the largest known sovereign Bitcoin holder on the planet.

How the reserve works

President Donald Trump signed the executive order on March 6, 2025, directing that Bitcoin seized through federal criminal and civil forfeiture proceedings be consolidated into a permanent national reserve. The Treasury Department manages the holdings.

The key rule: the Bitcoin in this reserve cannot be sold.

The initial tranche of holdings was estimated at approximately 200,000 BTC, drawn from assets the government had already confiscated in various law enforcement operations over the years. By February 2026, total US government Bitcoin holdings had grown to around 328,372 BTC.

Beyond just Bitcoin, the executive order also created a separate US Digital Asset Stockpile to manage other forfeited digital assets. The two programs operate under different frameworks, with Bitcoin receiving the more elevated “strategic reserve” designation while everything else gets filed under a broader stockpile category.

The order explicitly directs both the Treasury and Commerce Departments to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin. The order also prohibits mandatory purchases, meaning this isn’t a program where the government is forced to buy Bitcoin on a schedule regardless of market conditions.

Legislative battles and bureaucratic friction

The BITCOIN Act, formally known as S.954, proposed authorizing the acquisition of up to 1 million BTC. A second piece of legislation, the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA), was introduced in May 2026. It seeks to codify the reserve’s framework into law and impose a 20-year mandatory holding period on the assets.

Neither bill has crossed the finish line yet. As of mid-2026, inter-agency disputes between the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department are creating friction over asset custody and operational control, delaying full operationalization of the reserve.

What this means for investors

The non-sellable designation has direct supply implications. Approximately 328,372 BTC are now effectively removed from circulation, locked in government wallets with no mechanism to return them to the market under current rules. For an asset with a hard cap of 21 million coins, that’s a meaningful chunk of supply taken permanently off the table.

The risk side of the equation is worth watching too. The inter-agency disputes and legislative uncertainty mean the reserve’s permanence isn’t guaranteed. A change in administration, a failed legislative push, or a shift in political winds could theoretically unwind the whole structure.

Economists remain divided on whether a government should be accumulating a volatile, non-yield-bearing asset as a reserve holding. Bitcoin’s track record as a store of value is measured in years, not centuries, and its price can still swing 20% in a week.

Investors should watch for movement on either the BITCOIN Act or ARMA as the clearest signals of whether this experiment becomes permanent policy.

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