U.S. House Representative Introduces Bill to Reserve Bitcoin for 20 Years...Will 1 Million BTC Be Locked Up?

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A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to legalize the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve as a 20-year long-term holding system. The evaluation is that the U.S. digital asset policy has entered a new phase, as the Bitcoin reserve concept, which started as an executive order, could solidify into a federal law system that remains unshaken even with future changes in administration.

BeInCrypto reported on May 21 (local time) that U.S. Representative Nick Begich submitted the U.S. Reserve Modernization Act to the House of Representatives. Representative Begich, a Republican from Alaska, introduced the bill with 16 co-sponsors. The bill aims to codify the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as a permanent federal law.

This bill requires the federal government to hold Bitcoin for a minimum of 20 years and demands a budget-neutral acquisition strategy. According to BeInCrypto, the bill allows the U.S. Treasury to acquire up to 200,000 BTC annually for five years, ultimately targeting a reserve of 1 million BTC.

The U.S. Reserve Modernization Act is based on the framework of previously proposed Bitcoin bills and aims to place President Donald Trump's March 2025 executive order on a legal foundation. While executive orders can be withdrawn by future administrations, laws last longer, which can increase the stability of the Bitcoin reserve concept.

The bill stipulates that Bitcoin acquisition should proceed in a manner that avoids new taxpayer spending. This is similar in intent to the gold sale funding proposal associated with Senator Cynthia Lummis. The 20-year holding obligation applies to all Bitcoin controlled by the federal government, including approximately 198,000 BTC to 328,000 BTC secured through criminal forfeitures from incidents such as the Silk Road and Bitfinex hacks.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute expressed its support, stating that this bill is a measure to professionalize the federal custodial system. The institute evaluated the U.S. Reserve Modernization Act as a bill that puts the concept of a strategic Bitcoin reserve at a turning point.

The key factor going forward is the speed of congressional deliberation. BeInCrypto reported that committee hearings, scheduled to be held in the coming weeks, will be a signal to gauge the momentum of the U.S. Reserve Modernization Act. If the bill progresses, the U.S. Bitcoin reserve concept is likely to be fixed not as a short-term policy but as a long-term national asset strategy.

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