The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to consider legislation that would place a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into federal statute. H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, is one of nine measures on the committee’s September 16 markup agenda, with proceedings scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, according to the official committee calendar.
Rep. Nick Begich introduced the bill on May 21 with Rep. Jared Golden among its original cosponsors. The legislation would establish both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile within the Treasury Department, consolidating federal custody and management of qualifying Bitcoin and other qualifying digital assets. The bill previously appeared at a July 17 Digital Assets Subcommittee field hearing but had not yet gone through a full-committee markup.
Steil Amendment Revises Reserve Framework
The version scheduled for consideration includes a substitute amendment offered by Rep. Bryan Steil. Under the proposed substitute, Treasury would have 180 days after enactment to establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. Qualifying federal Bitcoin would move into the reserve, while qualifying non-Bitcoin assets would be held separately in the stockpile.
The substitute also changes how proceeds from digital-asset dispositions would be handled. Treasury could use proceeds first to cover the costs of managing the reserve and stockpile, with amounts above those costs deposited into the Treasury to reduce the national debt. A separate provision directs Treasury and Commerce to study lawful, budget-neutral methods of acquiring additional Bitcoin, including possible transactions involving non-Bitcoin stockpile assets.
That study does not itself authorize new federal Bitcoin purchases. The substitute expressly bars its study provision from being interpreted as authority for borrowing, new taxation, deficit spending or pledging federal assets as collateral to acquire Bitcoin. Unlike the introduced bill, the revised text no longer specifically identifies Federal Reserve Bank surplus remittances or gold-certificate revaluation among the mechanisms to be evaluated.
Bitcoin Would Face a 20-Year Hold
One of the bill’s central restrictions survives in the substitute. Bitcoin deposited in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would generally have to remain there for at least 20 years, during which it could not be sold, swapped, auctioned, encumbered or otherwise disposed of. Treasury would later submit recommendations to Congress concerning continued retention or a controlled release after the holding period.
The substitute also retains a public Proof of Reserve requirement but changes its frequency. Treasury would publish an annual report detailing reserve holdings, transactions and control of private keys, subject to verification by an independent third-party auditor and oversight by the Comptroller General. The introduced version had instead called for quarterly public reports.
Wednesday’s proceeding is a committee-level legislative step, not final House approval. Members can debate the proposal, amend the substitute and decide whether to report H.R. 8957 to the full House. Even if the committee advances it, the measure would still require passage by both chambers and presidential approval before the statutory reserve framework could take effect.
Liam Foster follows crypto markets from France, with a close eye on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Layer 1 assets, derivatives, sentiment and smart money flows. His coverage looks past the daily price move to understand what is happening underneath: liquidity, leverage, positioning and the behavior of larger players.
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