Congressman Nick Begich introduced H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, on May 21, 2026. The full legislative text is now public, and the details are more specific than the headlines have indicated.
Key Takeaways
Forfeited government Bitcoin goes into the Reserve automatically.
The bill formally highlights Bitcoin’s capacity to enhance national financial leadership alongside gold.
No Reserve Bitcoin can be sold for at least 20 years.
States keep full legal title to any Bitcoin they store federally.
What the Bill Actually Does
The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (US Congress House Bill 8957) instructs the Treasury Secretary to establish two separate structures within 180 days of enactment. The first is the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a secure storage facility exclusively for Bitcoin. The second is the Digital Asset Stockpile, a separate structure for all other government-held digital assets such as Ethereum or Solana seized through law enforcement.
The bill is specific about what feeds the Reserve. Only “qualifying Bitcoin”, defined in the legislation as Bitcoin “finally forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings or in satisfaction of any civil money penalty”, goes into the Reserve automatically. The government is not authorized by this bill to purchase Bitcoin with taxpayer money. What it already holds through seizures is what gets locked in.
The Digital Asset Stockpile works differently. The Treasury Secretary can sell, exchange, or convert non-Bitcoin assets held there, but the proceeds must either increase the Bitcoin Reserve or reduce the national debt. In practice, everything the government has seized that is not Bitcoin becomes a funding source for the Bitcoin position over time.
The 20-Year Lock and What Comes After
The most consequential rule in the bill is the holding requirement. The legislation states that no Bitcoin deposited in the Reserve “may be sold, swapped, auctioned, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of” for at least 20 years from the date of deposit. This is written as a hard legal prohibition, not a policy guideline.
Two years before that window expires, the Treasury Secretary must submit recommendations to Congress on whether to continue holding or begin a controlled release. Even after the holding period ends, any sale recommendation is capped at 10% of Reserve holdings per two-year period, and must account for market impact, national deficit implications, and Bitcoin’s long-term viability as a strategic asset.
Transparency Built Into the Structure
The bill creates what it calls a Proof of Reserve system, borrowing a concept directly from the crypto industry and writing it into federal law. The Treasury Secretary would publish quarterly reports including total holdings, all transactions, and cryptographic proof of private key control. Those reports would be publicly available on the Treasury’s official website and verified by an independent third-party auditor. The Comptroller General would oversee compliance.
That level of public cryptographic accountability does not currently exist for any government reserve asset.
What the Bill Still Leaves Open
The legislation requires a study within 180 days on whether the government could grow its Bitcoin holdings through means that do not cost taxpayers anything. The options listed in the bill include:
Converting seized non-Bitcoin digital assets already in the Stockpile
Revaluing Federal Reserve gold certificates
Accepting Bitcoin through tax payments, tariff revenues, or voluntary contributions
Cooperative programs with states, private entities, or international partners
The legislation explicitly prohibits new borrowing, new taxation, or deficit spending for Bitcoin acquisition. Any new Bitcoin the government acquires must come from existing resources or voluntary inflows.
The bill also contains a property rights clause worth noting. Section 10 explicitly states that nothing in the legislation authorizes the government to seize privately held Bitcoin, and it protects the right of individuals to maintain self-custody of private keys, calling it “fundamental to the principles of financial sovereignty, privacy, and personal liberty in the digital age.”
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services after introduction. That is the next step before any floor vote, and committee review is where most legislation either advances or stalls. The specificity of the holding requirements, the transparency mechanisms, the state participation program, and the budget-neutral acquisition study make clear this is a fully developed legislative proposal rather than a placeholder bill waiting to be filled in.
