The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is advancing on a separate legislative track even after the Senate's failure to move the CLARITY Act. The House Financial Services Committee has taken up H.R. 8957, known as the American Reserve Modernization Act, which would place a federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on a statutory footing and establish formal rules for managing government-held BTC.
The bill was introduced in May and referred to the committee, but its consideration now comes just days after the Senate fell short in a 49–50 procedural vote on the CLARITY Act, well below the 60 votes needed. That broader digital asset framework's defeat contributed to Bitcoin falling below $75,000 and triggered roughly $300 million in crypto long liquidations.
A central provision of H.R. 8957 is a minimum 20-year holding period for BTC deposited into the reserve, which would limit the government's ability to sell or dispose of those assets. The legislation also calls for greater transparency around federal Bitcoin holdings, including reporting and reserve-management requirements.
Notably, the bill does not mandate immediate large-scale Treasury purchases of Bitcoin. Instead, it focuses on consolidating and managing existing federal holdings while exploring ways additional BTC could be acquired without increasing taxes, borrowing, or the federal deficit. This narrows the proposal compared with earlier Strategic Bitcoin Reserve plans built around major government buying programs. For Bitcoin markets, the 20-year lockup framework matters because government BTC has historically been viewed as a potential source of selling pressure.
