A bill introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and lock any acquired Bitcoin in it for at least two decades. H.R. 8957, filed by Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK), also requires the Treasury to publish quarterly audited proof-of-reserve reports — a transparency step more typical of crypto exchanges than federal asset programs. The legislation now sits with committee referral pending.
Twenty-year holding period
Under the bill's text, Bitcoin deposited into the reserve cannot be sold for 20 years after the date the reserve is established. The prohibition is absolute — no emergency exemptions, no rebalancing clauses. The government would hold through at least two full halving cycles. Critics of bitcoin as a reserve asset have questioned the political wisdom of locking up taxpayer-funded crypto through multiple administrations, but the bill's authors see it as a way to ensure the asset isn't liquidated prematurely for short-term budget fixes.
Quarterly proof-of-reserve audits
The transparency requirement is unusually specific for a federal bill. Every three months, the Treasury must produce a publicly available audit of the Bitcoin holdings, verified by an independent third party. The reports must confirm the reserve's wallet addresses, the exact balance, and that no sales have occurred. It's a direct nod to the proof-of-reserve model popularized by exchanges after the FTX collapse — applied now to the federal government.
What happens next
H.R. 8957 has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee. No hearing date has been set. Rep. Begich has not yet issued a statement beyond the bill's introduction, and no co-sponsors have signed on as of Tuesday. The bill's path remains uncertain — similar efforts to establish a federal bitcoin reserve have stalled in previous sessions. But the inclusion of specific audit language and a hard sale ban gives this version a clearer framework for debate.
