U.S. House Committee Advances Bitcoin Reserve Bill: Proposes 20-Year Holding Period

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed the amended H.R. 8957, the U.S. Reserve Modernization Act, with a vote of 28 to 21, aiming to incorporate the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset reserve program into federal law. The bill proposes that Bitcoin legally held by the federal government and without other statutory purposes must be held for at least 20 years from the effective date of the bill, during which it cannot be sold, exchanged, auctioned, pledged, or disposed of in any other way.

The bill still needs to be passed by the House, the Senate, and signed by Trump. The bill also requires the Treasury Department to establish relevant reserves within 180 days of its enactment and to publish an annual reserve certification report covering holdings, transactions, and private key control. The Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce will study legal and budget-neutral ways to increase Bitcoin holdings, but this provision does not authorize direct purchases.