The U.S. House of Representatives Plans a 20-Year Holding Period for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
BlockBeats News, June 5th. According to the U.S. Congress official website, the full text of the U.S. House of Representatives' "American Reserve Modernization Act" (H.R.8957, ARMA) has been released. The bill was introduced on May 21st by Representative Nicholas Begich of Alaska and has now been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services for review. The main provisions of the bill include: incorporating Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture by the government into a strategic Bitcoin reserve managed by the Treasury Department, with a minimum holding period of 20 years during which it cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of; establishing a quarterly reserve attestation mechanism and introducing third-party independent audits; and permitting states to voluntarily custody their Bitcoin in separate accounts within the Federal Reserve.
In terms of forward-looking provisions, the bill requires the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce to jointly study, in a budget-neutral manner, a viable path to increasing Bitcoin holdings within 180 days. This path may include converting non-Bitcoin digital assets, forfeitures, voluntary donations, taxation or tariff revenue, and leveraging mechanisms such as the Fed or gold certificates. Additionally, any forked assets or airdrops generated from government-controlled addresses must be securely held. The sale of forked/airdropped assets is prohibited for 5 years. After 5 years, the market value will be assessed, the dominant asset (the one with the highest market value) will be retained, and other assets may be disposed of (with proceeds going to the Treasury). Assets with unique strategic value may be recommended to be retained to Congress.
Analysts point out that compared to the previous "BITCOIN Act" that required the purchase of 1 million Bitcoins, the ARMA is more moderate, has higher political feasibility, but still leaves room for future federal Bitcoin acquisitions.
