U.S. House committee to vote on the ARMA bill on a bitcoin reserve on September 16

• The US House Financial Services Committee will consider the ARMA bill on September 16.
• The initiative is intended to enshrine a strategic bitcoin reserve in federal law and set rules for its management.
• The vote will take place at the Committee level, not in the full House of Representatives.

On September 16, 2026, the US House Financial Services Committee will take up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (ARMA). The initiative was added to the meeting agenda, according to the official website.

This is not a final vote by the full House of Representatives. The Committee will hold what is known as a markup. Under this procedure, lawmakers debate the text, consider amendments, and vote on whether to advance the bill. 

If approved, ARMA could move to consideration by the full House of Representatives. To take effect, the bill would then need approval from both chambers of Congress and the president’s signature.

ARMA was introduced in May 2026 by Republican Congressman Nick Begich and Democrat Jared Golden. We previously wrote about the initiative and its connection to the previously proposed Bitcoin Act.

The core idea behind ARMA is to lock in a strategic bitcoin reserve not only through an executive order, but also through federal law. This would significantly reduce the ability of a future administration to abandon the policy with a single executive decision.

Ahead of the September 16 meeting, the Committee also published a substitute amendment to H.R. 8957 from Congressman Bryan Steil. If adopted, it would replace the bill’s original text.

Under this version, the US Department of the Treasury must establish a strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate stockpile of other digital assets no later than 180 days after the law takes effect.

The reserve is expected to receive bitcoin owned by the federal government that is not required for other purposes provided for by law.

Federal agencies will have 60 days to provide the Treasury with a full accounting of the bitcoin and other digital assets they hold. Once the reserve infrastructure is in place, eligible assets will be transferred under the Treasury’s centralized management.

The bill also sets a minimum bitcoin holding period of 20 years. During this time, the assets cannot be sold, exchanged, auctioned, or used as collateral. Two years before the end of this period, the Treasury Department must submit recommendations to Congress on the reserve’s future management.

Another part of the initiative focuses on transparency. The Treasury Department must create a Proof of Reserve system, publish annual information on the size of the reserve and transactions involving it, and an independent auditor will verify this data.

At the same time, the current version of ARMA does not require the government to buy 1 million BTC. That target appeared in earlier public discussions of the initiative, but the official text of H.R. 8957 only calls for studying ways to accumulate additional bitcoin without increasing taxpayer costs.

The Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce must, within 180 days, examine possible budget-neutral mechanisms. These include selling or swapping other government digital assets, receiving bitcoin through forfeitures, and agreements with private companies, states, or foreign partners. 

The amendment separately prohibits using new taxes, deficit financing, borrowing, or pledging government assets to fund such purchases.

What stage is the creation of a bitcoin reserve in the US at

US President Donald Trump back in March 2025 signed an executive order establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate stockpile of digital assets.

The document provides for funding the reserve primarily with bitcoin confiscated by the government in criminal and civil cases. The Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce were also tasked with developing ways to accumulate additional bitcoin without new costs to taxpayers.

However, the executive order by itself did not create a fully functioning centralized infrastructure. The White House report on digital assets noted that the Treasury Department provided the administration with legal and investment recommendations, after which the agencies continued working on the reserve’s practical rollout.

In June 2026, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department was moving forward with creating the reserve “as fast as possible,” but called the effort “uncharted territory.” At that time, the reserve still effectively was not operating as a single, fully fledged system.

Earlier, Bessent also clarified that the Treasury Department continues to look for budget-neutral ways to replenish its holdings of the first cryptocurrency.

As of September 2026, there is no public confirmation that the consolidation of all eligible government bitcoin into a single reserve has been completed. In the Treasury Department’s 2026–2030 strategic plan, implementation of the presidential executive order on the strategic Bitcoin reserve is still listed as one of the agency’s objectives.

In this context, ARMA is expected to take the project to the next level. The bill would enshrine the reserve in federal law, set specific deadlines for the Treasury Department, establish asset transfer rules, a 20-year holding period, and a public audit mechanism. The vote on September 16 will be the first step in moving this initiative through the relevant House committee.

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