Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, introduced legislation Thursday to permanently establish a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve, unveiling the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) — a bill designed to codify President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order and give the reserve a durable legal foundation in statute.
The measure, which has garnered bipartisan support and more than a dozen co-sponsors in Congress, would task the Treasury Department with overseeing the reserve while creating a separate digital asset stockpile for federally held cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. Begich drew a direct comparison between bitcoin and gold, arguing the market has already determined both assets as the dominant stores of value in their respective classes.
“When you look at gold, it is the dominant precious metal reserve,” Begich told Fox Business. “When you look at bitcoin, it represents about 60% of all market cap for the entire crypto space. So the market has decided, in the case of gold and in the case of bitcoin, that this will be the predominant store of value within that asset class.”
ARMA builds on the earlier BITCOIN Act, which Begich originally introduced in March 2025 alongside Sen. Cynthia Lummis. The updated legislation would authorize the Treasury to acquire up to 200,000 BTC per year for five years — targeting a total of 1 million bitcoin, or roughly 5% of global supply — with all holdings locked for a minimum of 20 years.
The U.S. government currently holds an estimated 328,372 BTC accumulated through law enforcement seizures, including proceeds from the Silk Road takedown and the 2022 Bitfinex hack recovery.
The U.S. bitcoin handling needs to change
Co-sponsor Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., underscored the urgency of giving that existing stockpile a strategic home. “The United States government already holds billions in seized bitcoin with no coherent strategy for managing it, and that needs to change,” Harrigan said.
The bill’s introduction comes amid a broader wave of crypto-friendly legislative momentum in Washington. The Senate Banking Committee passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in a 15-9 bipartisan vote on May 13, advancing a sweeping regulatory framework for the crypto industry to the full Senate floor.
Two Democrats — Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland — crossed the aisle to support the measure. Sen. Lummis signaled the bill could reach a Senate floor vote by mid-June, though she cautioned that timeline may be optimistic.
The legislative push also arrives as the Treasury Department intensifies pressure on crypto-linked illicit finance.
Under Operation Economic Fury, the U.S. seized nearly $500 million in Iranian cryptocurrency assets as of late April, reinforcing calls for a comprehensive government strategy to manage seized digital assets.
The White House has separately signaled a formal announcement on the operational status of the strategic bitcoin reserve is imminent, with a senior administration official saying a key legal hurdle has been cleared.
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