US Crypto Reserve Bill Passes House Financial Services Committee

• The U.S. House Financial Services Committee backed the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026.
• The bill provides for the creation of a Strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset vault within the U.S. Treasury.
• Bitcoins in the federal reserve must be held for at least 20 years.

On September 16, 2026, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee backed the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 8957), which would codify President Donald Trump’s policy of creating a strategic bitcoin reserve. The decision passed 28 to 21.

The document provides for the creation of a Strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset vault within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It would hold bitcoins and other digital assets that the federal government obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture.

Under the bill, bitcoins in the federal reserve must be held for at least 20 years. This is intended to make the asset a permanent part of the federal government’s reserves.

U.S. Representative Nick Begich said the current system for the federal government’s bitcoin custody is fragmented and creates cybersecurity risks.

“We cannot allow bitcoin held by the federal government to simply remain in a fragmented and inconsistent custody system. This creates unacceptable cybersecurity risks and fails to provide proper accounting of what the federal government actually owns,” he said.

According to Arkham, the U.S. government controls about 324,527 BTC, worth $24.7 billion at the time of writing.

Note that if ARMA is approved, it can move to consideration by the full House of Representatives. For the bill to take effect, it would then need approval from both chambers of Congress and the president’s signature.

As a reminder, the CLARITY Act bill failed  to pass a vote in the US Senate earlier.