- The American Reserve Modernization Act targets 1 million BTC acquisitions over five years
- The bill would fund purchases by revaluing U.S. gold reserves instead of taxpayer money
- All government-held Bitcoin would be locked for at least 20 years
Congress just introduced one of the boldest Bitcoin proposals the United States has ever seriously considered. The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, introduced by Representatives Nick Begich and Jared Golden, would direct the U.S. Treasury to acquire up to 1 million BTC over five years, roughly 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
The plan calls for purchases of 200,000 BTC annually while requiring all acquired Bitcoin to remain locked for a minimum of 20 years unless used specifically to reduce the national debt, which recently crossed $39 trillion.
The Bill Uses Gold to Fund Bitcoin Purchases
The most interesting part of the proposal is the funding mechanism. Instead of relying on new taxpayer appropriations, lawmakers want to revalue existing U.S. gold reserves and use the resulting accounting gains to finance Bitcoin acquisitions.
Supporters argue this approach makes the proposal budget-neutral while modernizing part of the country’s reserve strategy. Whether congressional budget analysts fully agree with that interpretation is another question entirely.
Still, the structure clearly attempts to make the idea politically easier to defend during a period of growing concern around federal debt and monetary policy.
The U.S. Already Holds Massive Bitcoin Reserves
The federal government already controls an estimated 328,000 BTC accumulated through seizures tied to cases like Silk Road and the Bitfinex hack. That already makes the United States one of the world’s largest nation-state Bitcoin holders.
The difference is that those holdings were accumulated accidentally through law enforcement activity rather than through a deliberate national reserve strategy. ARMA would effectively formalize Bitcoin accumulation into official long-term policy while also converting parts of the March 2025 Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order into permanent law.
That matters because executive orders can disappear with a new administration. Legislation is much harder to reverse.
The White House Appears Interested
The proposal is already drawing attention inside Washington. Patrick Witt from the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets reportedly described the bill as “Version 2” of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve concept and confirmed the administration has examined the legal structure closely.
The bipartisan support also stands out. The bill currently has 16 co-sponsors, which gives it more political momentum than many previous crypto-related proposals received initially.
Countries Are Quietly Entering a Bitcoin Race
ARMA is still just a bill for now, meaning it faces committee reviews, House reconciliation, and Senate negotiations before anything becomes law. But the broader signal is becoming difficult to ignore. Governments are starting to seriously discuss Bitcoin as part of sovereign reserve strategy.
Brazil has reportedly explored allocating portions of foreign reserves to BTC as well, while multiple countries continue increasing digital asset exposure indirectly through regulation, mining infrastructure, or custody frameworks.
If ARMA eventually passes, the United States would officially control roughly 5% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist. And at that point, the global Bitcoin reserve race stops being theoretical entirely.
