Representatives Nick Begich (R-AK) and Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, known as ARMA, on May 21. The legislation would codify in federal law a strategic Bitcoin reserve built from assets the government already holds through seizures and forfeitures, with no requirement to buy additional Bitcoin on the open market. A bipartisan group of co-sponsors has joined the bill since its introduction.

The U.S. federal government currently holds approximately 328,372 BTC, all of it accumulated through criminal forfeitures and civil enforcement actions. At Bitcoin's current price of roughly $77,447, that position is worth more than $25.5 billion, making the U.S. the largest known state-level Bitcoin holder in the world. Despite that position, Congress has never established a formal policy for managing or reporting on those holdings. ARMA is designed to fill that gap.

"The U.S. is already one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world," Golden said in a statement. "But Congress has never set a federal policy on what to do with that asset." Co-sponsor Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) put it more bluntly: "The United States government already holds billions in seized Bitcoin with no coherent strategy for managing it, and that needs to change."

What ARMA Does and Does Not Do

ARMA is a deliberate retreat from the aggressive accumulation targets in earlier legislation. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the BITCOIN Act in 2024, which would have directed the Treasury to purchase one million BTC over five years at a cost critics estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. That provision stalled the bill in the Senate. ARMA removes the purchase mandate entirely and replaces it with a study requirement: Treasury must evaluate "budget-neutral acquisition strategies," such as re-hypothecation of existing assets, without committing to any numerical target.

Patrick Witt of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets called ARMA "Version 2" of the reserve framework. President Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve in March 2025, but that order directed agencies to consolidate existing holdings only and explicitly ruled out new purchases. Over a year later, the reserve had made little operational progress. ARMA is intended, proponents argue, to give the initiative a durable legal foundation that a future administration cannot simply reverse.

The bill's key provisions include a minimum 20-year lockup on all reserve holdings, with any eventual sale permitted only for the purpose of reducing the national debt (currently exceeding $39 trillion). It also mandates quarterly public proof-of-reserve disclosures, independent third-party audits, and congressional oversight. A separate Digital Asset Stockpile would hold all other government-seized cryptocurrencies outside of Bitcoin. The bill also includes an explicit prohibition on federal interference with individuals' rights to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets.

Rep. Begich framed the reserve in geopolitical terms, describing the U.S. balance sheet as "a critical component of our nation's insurance policy, bolstering our currency and providing assurance during times of uncertainty."

Not everyone is persuaded. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has publicly argued that crypto "has no inherent value," implying it has no place in federal reserve holdings.

Implications Beyond U.S. Borders

For readers outside the United States, several elements of ARMA are worth watching closely.

The forfeiture-first model is directly relevant to countries that have accumulated Bitcoin through law enforcement operations but lack a legal framework for managing it. Pakistan's Crypto Council has already cited the U.S. approach as a template, even as Pakistan's Finance Secretary confirmed that crypto remains illegal for retail use domestically. Nigeria and Kenya are in similar positions: both have active crypto enforcement operations generating seized BTC, and both are building regulatory infrastructure that could accommodate a reserve structure.

ARMA's mandatory proof-of-reserve audits set a new baseline for sovereign transparency. South Africa's FSCA and Kenya's newly enacted virtual asset service provider law, passed in October 2025, are currently developing audit frameworks. ARMA gives regulators in those markets a concrete governance model to reference.

The 20-year lockup also carries a softer but significant signal for countries like India, currently ranked first globally in the 2025 Chainalysis Crypto Adoption Index, that are still debating whether to classify Bitcoin as a currency or a commodity. Analysts have noted that framing sovereign holdings as a long-term reserve asset rather than an active trading position sidesteps that classification debate and provides a policy template that avoids the volatility question entirely.

What Comes Next

ARMA still has a long path through Congress. A Senate companion bill has been discussed, with Sen. Lummis's Mined in America Act cited as the likely vehicle, though that bill may carry harder acquisition language and would force a reconciliation process. A White House adviser signalled in early May that an operational update on the existing executive reserve was coming "in the next few weeks," and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has previously ruled out new purchases. That alignment between the executive branch's stated position and ARMA's study-not-mandate approach may, some observers suggest, help the bill advance faster than its predecessors.

At least 16 nations have now proposed or enacted some form of strategic Bitcoin reserve legislation. China is estimated to hold approximately $50 billion in seized cryptocurrency, underscoring the geopolitical stakes of reserve policy. Whether the U.S. is the first to enshrine such a reserve in permanent federal law remains an open question. New Hampshire became the first U.S. state to pass a strategic Bitcoin reserve law in May 2025, but no federal equivalent yet exists, and ARMA represents the most concrete attempt to create one.