ARMA Pushes U.S. Bitcoin Reserve Bill to Lock 1M BTC for 20 Years

Bitcoin is back on Capitol Hill, and this time the push is straightforward: turn the White House’s reserve plan into law, lock the coins up for decades, and use them only if they help chip away at America’s $39 trillion debt.

• ARMA would codify Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve order into law
• Treasury could buy up to 1 million BTC over five years
• Reserve Bitcoin would be locked for at least 20 years
• Any sale proceeds would go only toward reducing the national debt

Freshman Tennessee Republican Rep. Matt Van Epps is backing the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA), a federal Bitcoin reserve bill designed to make President Trump’s March 2025 executive order on a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve permanent. The pitch is blunt: if Washington insists on holding Bitcoin, it should do so as a serious reserve asset, not as a political grab bag that gets shuffled around every election cycle.

Van Epps is one of 18 original cosponsors on the bill, which was introduced on May 21 by Rep. Nick Begich with Democratic co-lead Rep. Jared Golden. The measure would place the reserve inside the U.S. Treasury and authorize the department to acquire up to 200,000 BTC per year for five years, for a total of 1 million BTC. That is a staggering amount by any measure. At roughly 21 million coins ever, 1 million BTC would amount to about 4.76% of total supply. In plain English: if the Treasury starts buying at that scale, the market will notice.

The reserve would not be something Washington could casually dip into. Under ARMA, any Bitcoin held in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would be locked for a minimum of 20 years. If the government ever sells any of it, the proceeds could only be used to reduce the national debt. No raiding the stash to paper over some bloated program or to fund the next federal nonsense machine. The point is to treat Bitcoin as a long-term sovereign asset, not a piggy bank.

That matters because the U.S. already holds a sizable chunk of Bitcoin, but it got there the messy way. The government currently controls an estimated 328,372 BTC, mostly from law enforcement seizures tied to cases like Silk Road and the Bitfinex hack recovery. Those coins were not accumulated through a deliberate monetary strategy; they were confiscated as part of criminal investigations and asset recovery. ARMA would take that accidental pile and transform it into an actual federal Bitcoin reserve housed in the Treasury.

The bill also separates Bitcoin from other digital assets. A separate Digital Asset Stockpile would hold non-Bitcoin crypto already in federal custody. That distinction is important. Bitcoin is the only digital asset with a truly credible case for reserve status: fixed supply, deep liquidity, broad recognition, and no CEO or foundation to print more units or steer the rules. Ethereum and other networks each serve their own roles, but Bitcoin is the cleanest candidate for hard-money treatment. No marketing fluff, no token inflation theater, no central committee pretending scarcity is a vibes-based feature.

Van Epps tied the proposal to Nashville’s growing Bitcoin scene, saying:

“Nashville is one of the nation’s leading Bitcoin hubs.”

He pointed to Bitcoin Park and the Bitcoin conference returning to Nashville in 2027 as evidence that the city is not just talking about Bitcoin, but helping build the infrastructure and culture around it. That local angle is not trivial. Congress loves a hometown success story, and Nashville has become a useful symbol for the idea that Bitcoin is no longer an outsider’s obsession. It is now part of the policy conversation, the business conversation, and the political fight over what America’s money should look like.

ARMA also includes language protecting one of Bitcoin’s core principles: self-custody. The bill says the federal government cannot impair the lawful right to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets. For newcomers, self-custody means holding your own private keys instead of relying on a bank, exchange, or other middleman to do it for you. In Bitcoin terms, that is the whole point. Not your keys, not your coins. The fact that a federal bill even acknowledges that principle is notable, even if the government itself stockpiling Bitcoin raises a very obvious question: can a system built on decentralization really stay true to that ethos once Uncle Sam starts stacking sats?

The legislation also calls for a study on budget-neutral acquisition strategies. That phrase deserves translation. It means lawmakers want to figure out how Treasury could buy Bitcoin without simply borrowing more money or opening the spending floodgates. That could include using existing federal resources, seized assets, or other non-taxpayer pathways. Or it could end up being bureaucratic wizardry in a suit and tie. Either way, the phrase is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt suggested that a major development on the reserve could be close, saying a “breakthrough” tied to the administration’s Bitcoin reserve plans could arrive in the coming weeks. He made the remarks at Bitcoin 2026, adding more fuel to the idea that this is not just political theater. There is real momentum here, and Washington’s crypto policy class seems increasingly serious about making Bitcoin part of the federal balance sheet.

There is also a Senate companion effort, with Senators Cynthia Lummis and Cassidy reportedly backing similar codification language. That matters because executive orders are temporary by nature. A future administration can undo them with a signature and a shrug. Legislation is harder to kill. If ARMA or a comparable Senate version clears Congress, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would no longer be a White House experiment. It would be law.

Supporters see the move as a rational response to a debt problem that has been spiraling for years. With the national debt hovering around $39 trillion, the case for holding an asset with a fixed supply and no central issuer starts to look less like cypherpunk fantasy and more like a desperate but sensible hedge against monetary dysfunction. Bitcoin, in that framing, is not just an investment. It is a strategic asset with a built-in scarcity that fiat currencies simply cannot imitate.

Critics, however, are not wrong to raise their eyebrows. A federal Bitcoin reserve creates new centralization risks for an asset that was designed to avoid exactly that. It also hands future politicians a large, politically sensitive stash of hard money to fiddle with. Even with a 20-year lockup, the temptation to meddle will always be there. The state is notoriously bad at resisting shiny things, especially when those shiny things start looking like balance-sheet salvation.

There is also a market angle worth watching. A Treasury bid for up to 1 million BTC over five years would be a massive structural demand event. Depending on how it is executed, that could tighten supply, reinforce Bitcoin’s scarcity narrative, and possibly accelerate the asset’s legitimacy among institutions and sovereigns. On the other hand, a rushed or politically contaminated acquisition program could create distortions, custody headaches, and endless accusations that the government is either manipulating the market or getting played by it. Washington tends to turn even simple ideas into a compliance circus.

Still, the broader shift is hard to miss. Bitcoin is no longer being discussed only as a volatile trade or a fringe protest asset. It is increasingly being treated as a sovereign reserve candidate, a hedge against fiscal irresponsibility, and a tool for long-term national resilience. Whether that turns out to be wise policy or an expensive experiment will depend on how the reserve is managed, how transparent the process is, and whether Congress can resist turning a hard-money idea into soft political sludge.

What is ARMA?

The American Reserve Modernization Act is the bill that would turn Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order into permanent law.

How much Bitcoin could Treasury buy?

Up to 1 million BTC over five years, or 200,000 BTC per year.

How long would reserve Bitcoin be locked?

At least 20 years.

What happens if reserve BTC is sold?

Any proceeds could only be used to reduce the national debt.

How much BTC does the U.S. already hold?

An estimated 328,372 BTC, mostly from seizures and recovery efforts tied to cases like Silk Road and the Bitfinex hack.

Does the bill protect self-custody?

Yes. It says the federal government cannot impair the lawful right to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets.

Why does Nashville keep coming up?

Van Epps says Nashville is one of the nation’s leading Bitcoin hubs, pointing to Bitcoin Park and the Bitcoin conference returning in 2027.

Why are supporters pushing this now?

The national debt is the central argument. Supporters see Bitcoin as a scarce, strategic asset that could help protect the Treasury balance sheet over the long term.

What is the biggest risk?

Government ownership of Bitcoin could create centralization, political interference, and custody problems, even if the original goal is to strengthen Bitcoin’s role in U.S. policy.