House Panel Advances US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee advanced H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, in a reported 28-21 vote on September 16. The action moves the proposal into committee-approved status, while its creation of a federal Bitcoin reserve remains contingent on enactment.

The committee’s official markup agenda listed both H.R. 8957 and a Steil substitute amendment for consideration that day. The reported vote result was published by Cointelegraph.

House Financial Services Committee advances H.R. 8957

The measure would put a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into federal law and set separate rules for other digital assets held by the government. The committee proceeding considered a substitute amendment associated with Rep. Steil alongside the underlying bill, according to the agenda.

Committee approval does not itself establish either holding. The legislation’s operational requirements would take effect only if the bill is enacted.

Treasury would have 180 days to create two federal digital-asset holdings

Under the text of H.R. 8957, Treasury would have 180 days after enactment to establish two distinct federal holdings: a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile. The separation is explicit in the bill, rather than treating Bitcoin and other digital assets as one pool.

Although the published bill text describes the reserve and stockpile as structures Treasury would be directed to create, no reserve was created following the committee vote.

The bill locks reserve Bitcoin for at least 20 years

Bitcoin deposited into the proposed reserve would be subject to a minimum 20-year holding period. During that period, H.R. 8957 would prohibit the government from selling, swapping, auctioning or encumbering the reserve Bitcoin.

That restriction applies specifically to Bitcoin in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. By establishing a separate Digital Asset Stockpile, the measure draws a statutory distinction between the reserve’s long-term Bitcoin custody rules and the treatment of other federal digital-asset holdings.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.