The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has advanced H.R. 8957 by a 28-21 vote on September 16, setting a 20-year hold for Bitcoin placed in a federal reserve. According to the committee's official markup record, the vote was recorded as FC-317 after adopting a substitute amendment from Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin by voice vote. The committee's official calendar had previously confirmed a markup for September 16 at 10:00 a.m. ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building, putting H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, in position for committee consideration. The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine on May 21, 2025, and has 23 cosponsors among its supporters. As per CoinDesk, the vote came just one day after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the CLARITY Act, with House Financial Services Chairman French Hill and House Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson stating that Congress still needs to set rules for the sector.
The committee-approved substitute amendment significantly changes the reporting requirements from the original quarterly schedule to annual proof-of-reserve reporting. Under the amended legislation, Treasury would publish an annual report giving details on reserve holdings, transactions and control of private keys, with an independent third-party auditor with cryptographic-attestation expertise verifying the report. The U.S. Comptroller General would conduct continuing oversight of the reserve. Federal agencies would face separate accounting requirements, with agency heads required to provide Treasury with a complete accounting of Bitcoin and other digital assets they hold, have seized or otherwise control within 60 days of enactment and annually afterward. Before the reserve and stockpile are formally established, agencies would transfer qualifying assets to Treasury where practicable and consistent with existing law, with qualifying holdings remaining elsewhere required to be transferred within 30 days using custody procedures intended to preserve traceability and auditability. According to Arkham Intelligence, the US government is estimated to hold 324,527 Bitcoin worth $24.8 billion at the time of writing.
The amended legislation introduces more detailed provisions for asset management and release. Bitcoin deposited into the reserve would have to remain there for at least 20 years from enactment, with the bill specifying that assets could not be sold, swapped, auctioned, encumbered or otherwise disposed of during this period. Two years before the holding period ends, Treasury would have to send Congress recommendations on whether the government should continue holding the assets or permit a controlled release. After the 20-year period, the Treasury secretary could recommend selling up to 10% of reserve assets during any two-year period, with the bill directing Treasury to consider the national deficit, Bitcoin's long-term viability, possible market effects and the federal government's financial position when making such recommendations. The legislation also calls for legislative recommendations rather than giving Treasury an automatic exception for early releases. As per Rep. Bryan Steil, the measure would place federally forfeited Bitcoin in a Treasury reserve and hold it for at least 20 years, directing the Treasury Department to centralize the custody of all Bitcoin and other digital assets seized through final criminal and civil forfeiture.
The move was a complete surprise, given that the broader crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, failed its Senate procedural vote earlier in the week. For his part, Conner Brown, Executive Director of advocacy organization Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), termed the BTC reserve bill vote a "historic step." As per AMBCrypto, Brown stated, "A genuinely historic step for Bitcoin policy today. For the first time, a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill was considered by a federal committee, and it passed." In his support for the BTC reserve bill, Representative Steil echoed Begich's stance and warned, "We cannot allow Bitcoin to be held by the federal government to languish in fragmented and inconsistent custody. It poses unacceptable cybersecurity risks and fails to give an adequate accounting of what the federal government actually owns." However, there's nearly a 90% chance the Democrats will win House control in the November midterm elections, which could stall the BTC reserve bill's momentum from becoming final law. Interestingly, the prediction site Polymarket was still pricing only a 6% chance of the bill becoming law in 2026, undoubtedly tied to the uncertainty around House control by Democrat Party ahead of the midterms.
The U.S. government currently holds 324,527 Bitcoin, worth approximately $24.8 billion at current market value, according to Arkham Intelligence reports. However, other countries are aggressively accumulating Bitcoin with different motivations compared to the U.S. The UAE reported over $760 million BTC exposure in Q2 and views Bitcoin as digital gold. Overall, governments own 435K BTC, or 2% of the circulating supply, which is about four times smaller than the stash held by businesses like Strategy. The bulk of the supply, 66% or 14 million BTC, is held by individuals, highlighting the competitive landscape for government Bitcoin accumulation. Public estimates of federal Bitcoin holdings should remain separate from official reserve accounting, with Arkham's August research identifying roughly 325,000 BTC across addresses it associates with the U.S. government, though these are on-chain estimates and not a Treasury audit.
