A new bill, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (ARMA), has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation aims to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve managed by the Treasury Department.
The primary sponsors are Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Jared Golden.
ARMA proposes the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve within the U.S. Treasury, along with separate repositories for other crypto assets. Federal agencies will be required to provide full accounting and transfer coins for centralized storage by the department.
The bill includes provisions for:
- quarterly public reports on reserves;
- independent audits;
- oversight by Congress.
Bitcoin in the reserve is to be held for a minimum of 20 years, with sales permitted only to reduce national debt.
The legislation also affirms the right of U.S. citizens to own digital assets, store them independently, and transfer them without restrictions.
ARMA builds on a directive from President Donald Trump dated March 6, 2025, which called for the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. At that time, authorities ordered the transfer of the first cryptocurrency seized in criminal and civil cases into the reserve.
The Treasury and Commerce Departments have also been tasked with exploring budget-neutral methods for acquiring additional coins without costs to taxpayers.
Notably, the new bill does not set a target of 1 million BTC for the reserve, a provision that was included in an earlier BITCOIN Act authored by Senator Cynthia Lummis.
It is worth mentioning that on May 19, Trump signed an order to integrate digital assets into the traditional financial system and to review the rules governing crypto companies' access to payment infrastructure.