The United States is assembling a multi-layered Bitcoin reserve architecture without precedent in sovereign asset management. On May 21, 2026, Representatives Nick Begich (R-AK) and Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA), bipartisan legislation that would cod...
"By creating a strategic reserve with the weight of law, the ARMA reinforces stability and gives Congress more time to establish long-term policy." — Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Co-lead Sponsor, American Reserve Modernization Act
The United States is assembling a multi-layered Bitcoin reserve architecture without precedent in sovereign asset management. On May 21, 2026, Representatives Nick Begich (R-AK) and Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA), bipartisan legislation that would codify President Trump's March 2025 executive order into permanent statute, authorize Treasury to acquire up to 1 million BTC over five years, and lock those holdings for a minimum of 20 years. The bill targets 5% of Bitcoin's fixed supply — a position sized to mirror the U.S. government's gold reserves as a share of global supply.
ARMA enters a legislative field already shaped by three state-level programs that took effect in 2025, each with distinct acquisition mandates, custody models, and risk tolerances. Texas executed a $5 million purchase of BlackRock's IBIT in November 2025 under SB 21. New Hampshire authorized up to 5% of state funds for crypto ETF investments and approved a $100 million Bitcoin-backed municipal bond. Arizona signed HB 2749, which limits its reserve to seized assets and prohibits active purchases. The federal government currently holds 328,372 BTC — valued at approximately $25.4 billion at current prices near $77,400 — accumulated entirely through law enforcement seizures.
The combined federal-state apparatus represents the first attempt by any nation to build a distributed, multi-jurisdictional Bitcoin reserve system. Its economic logic rests on a gold revaluation mechanism that has not been tested since 1973.
ARMA establishes two distinct entities within the U.S. Department of the Treasury:
Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR): Holds only Bitcoin. All BTC deposited is subject to a 20-year lockup during which Treasury cannot "sell, swap, auction, encumber, or otherwise dispose of" the assets. After the lockup expires, the Treasury Secretary may recommend selling up to 10% of reserve holdings in any two-year period, with proceeds directed exclusively toward national debt reduction.
U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile (USDAS): A separate vehicle for federally held non-Bitcoin digital assets. The Treasury Secretary has discretion over management strategies, including potential sales.
The bill mandates quarterly public proof-of-reserve reports and independent third-party audits. It requires all federal agencies to provide full disclosure of currently held digital assets. It also affirms that the federal government "may not impair the lawful right of individuals to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets."
ARMA's acquisition target is up to 200,000 BTC per year for five years — 1 million BTC total, representing approximately 4.8% of Bitcoin's 21-million-unit fixed supply. At current prices, that target would cost approximately $77.4 billion. The bill specifies budget-neutral acquisition: no new appropriations, no tax increases, no deficit spending. The funding mechanism relies on gold reserve revaluation.
The legislation has 17 original co-sponsors and bipartisan backing. It builds on the BITCOIN Act introduced by Rep. Begich and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) in March 2025, rebranded to broaden appeal. The Senate companion bill, also championed by Lummis, contains substantially similar provisions.
ARMA's budget-neutrality claim hinges on revaluing U.S. gold reserves. The Federal Reserve currently holds gold certificates valued at the 1973 statutory price of $42.22 per troy ounce. The U.S. government holds 261.5 million troy ounces of gold — the largest official gold reserve globally.
At the statutory price, this gold is worth approximately $11 billion on the federal balance sheet. At current market prices near $4,500 per ounce as of May 2026, the same holdings are worth approximately $1.18 trillion — a gap of roughly $1.17 trillion.
By revaluing these certificates to market prices, the Treasury would realize an accounting gain that could, on paper, fund Bitcoin acquisitions without increasing the national deficit. This mechanism has not been employed since the gold window closed in 1971. Whether Congress and the Federal Reserve would agree to execute the revaluation is a separate political question from ARMA's passage.
The total acquisition cost at current Bitcoin prices — approximately $77.4 billion for 1 million BTC — would represent roughly 6.6% of the revaluation gain. The arithmetic works. The political and monetary policy implications of revaluing gold after 53 years are less clear.
Three U.S. states have enacted Bitcoin reserve legislation, each reflecting different risk appetites and governance constraints:
| Parameter | Detail | |---|---| | Authorization | State comptroller may buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin | | Fund size | $10 million legislative allocation | | First purchase | $5 million in BlackRock IBIT (Nov. 20, 2025) | | Custody model | Cold storage required; direct BTC custody planned | | Acquisition method | Active purchase with public funds | | Status | Second $5M tranche pending custody framework |
Texas is the only state to have executed an actual purchase using public treasury funds. The initial deployment through an ETF wrapper was a temporary measure while the state builds direct custody infrastructure.
| Parameter | Detail | |---|---| | Authorization | State treasurer may invest in precious metals and digital assets with $500B+ market cap | | Allocation limit | Up to 5% of state funds | | Vehicle | Crypto ETFs (no direct custody required) | | Additional initiative | $100M Bitcoin-backed municipal bond approved by BFA | | Bond rating | Ba2 (Moody's) — speculative grade | | Bond custodian | BitGo Trust Company |
New Hampshire has gone further than any state in financial product development, approving what would be the first Bitcoin-collateralized municipal bond in U.S. history. The bond is backed by Bitcoin collateral from CleanSpark, a publicly traded mining firm, with no recourse to state funds or taxpayers. Issuance is pending.
| Parameter | Detail | |---|---| | Authorization | Seized digital assets may be held in reserve | | Active purchases | Explicitly prohibited | | Scope | Limited to forfeiture proceeds | | Related vetoed bill | SB 1025 (vetoed by Gov. Hobbs) | | 2026 activity | Additional bills (SB 1649, SB 1042) in committee |
Arizona represents the most conservative approach: the state can hold what it seizes but cannot buy more. Governor Hobbs vetoed the more expansive bill, drawing a clear line between passive custody and active speculation with public funds.
| Feature | Federal (ARMA) | Texas | New Hampshire | Arizona | |---|---|---|---|---| | Active BTC purchases | Yes (200K/yr) | Yes ($10M fund) | Yes (ETF only) | No | | Direct custody | Yes (air-gapped) | Planned | No (ETF wrapper) | Yes (seized assets) | | Lockup period | 20 years | None specified | None specified | None specified | | Funding mechanism | Gold revaluation | Legislative appropriation | State fund allocation | Forfeitures only | | Audit requirements | Quarterly + independent | Per comptroller rules | Standard state audit | Standard state audit | | Quantum-safe provisions | Yes | No | No | No |
The U.S. government controls 328,372 BTC, valued at approximately $25.4 billion at $77,400 per BTC. This represents roughly 1.56% of Bitcoin's circulating supply of approximately 19.8 million coins.
Major seizure sources:
President Trump's March 6, 2025 executive order directed all agencies to consolidate these holdings under Treasury management and prohibited sales. However, the executive order lacks statutory force — any future administration could rescind it. ARMA would convert the executive order's directives into permanent law, which would require a subsequent act of Congress to undo.
No full audit of government-held Bitcoin has been completed. The 328,372 figure is based on agency self-reporting and blockchain analysis. ARMA's audit and proof-of-reserve mandates would address this gap.
The U.S. is not operating in isolation. Several sovereign entities have adopted Bitcoin reserve strategies, though none approach the scale contemplated by ARMA:
At 328,372 BTC, the U.S. already holds more Bitcoin than all other sovereign entities combined. ARMA would expand that position to roughly 1.33 million BTC — more than 6% of total supply.
The economic case for a sovereign Bitcoin reserve faces substantive objections:
Volatility exposure. Bitcoin dropped from $125,000 in October 2025 to under $70,000 in February 2026 — a 44% drawdown in four months. A government that acquired $1 billion at the peak would have been sitting on a $440 million unrealized loss. The 20-year lockup mitigates forced selling but does not eliminate mark-to-market volatility on the federal balance sheet.
Academic consensus. A February 2025 survey by the University of Chicago's IGM Forum found zero participating economists who agreed that borrowing to create a strategic crypto reserve would benefit the U.S. economy. Economist Stephen Cecchetti of Brandeis International Business School called the concept "absurd," stating: "It's foolish to purchase risky assets with leverage in the hope of making it easier to repay your debt."
Gold revaluation risks. The proposed funding mechanism — revaluing gold from $42.22/oz to market prices — would alter a 53-year-old accounting convention with potential implications for Federal Reserve balance sheet management and monetary policy transmission. The Federal Reserve has published research on international experiences with reserve revaluations but has not endorsed the approach for Bitcoin acquisition.
Cybersecurity. Government custody of $25+ billion in Bitcoin creates a concentrated attack surface. ARMA addresses this with air-gapped storage, distributed private-key management, multi-signature approval, and quantum-resistant cryptographic provisions, but no custody framework has been tested at this scale.
International friction. The managing director of the European Stability Mechanism has publicly criticized U.S. sovereign Bitcoin accumulation as a potential threat to euro-area monetary sovereignty and financial stability.
ARMA has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee. Its path to becoming law requires:
The bill benefits from a favorable political environment — the CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 on a similar timeline — but faces opposition from banking industry groups, law enforcement agencies, and consumer protection advocates who have objected to various provisions in the broader crypto legislative package.
The 20-year lockup provision and budget-neutrality constraint were designed to address fiscal hawks' concerns. Whether those guardrails are sufficient to secure moderate votes remains to be tested in committee.
ARMA represents the most ambitious sovereign Bitcoin accumulation proposal ever put to a legislature. Its core tension is structural: the bill uses a 53-year-old accounting convention (gold reserve revaluation) to fund acquisition of an asset class that did not exist until 2009. The 20-year lockup is designed to signal long-term commitment, but it also binds future Congresses and administrations to a position that cannot be unwound without legislative action.
The state-level programs provide a natural experiment. Texas's active-purchase model, New Hampshire's ETF-and-bond approach, and Arizona's seizure-only framework will generate empirical data on custody costs, volatility management, and political sustainability that the federal program can reference. As of May 2026, the total public-sector Bitcoin exposure across all U.S. jurisdictions — federal and state — stands at approximately 328,372 BTC plus marginal state ETF positions, valued at roughly $25.5 billion.
Whether that figure grows to 1.33 million BTC depends on a gold revaluation that hasn't happened in over half a century and a legislative process that has yet to complete its first committee vote. The data on execution risk is, for now, inconclusive.