The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to consider legislation establishing a federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve during a full-committee markup on September 16. H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, is listed among the measures scheduled for consideration at 10:00 a.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, according to the committee’s official markup notice.
The bill was introduced on May 21 by Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska. Begich’s office described Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine as a co-lead, while the official congressional record lists Golden among the bill’s cosponsors, giving the proposal sponsorship from members of both parties. The legislation was referred to the House Financial Services Committee after introduction.
Committee Markup Puts Bitcoin Reserve Text Under Review
Wednesday’s proceeding remains a committee action rather than a House passage vote. A markup allows committee members to debate and amend legislation and ultimately decide whether to recommend it to the full House and in what form. If the committee orders H.R. 8957 reported, additional action would still be required before it could become law.
The committee has also posted an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin. The substitute would require the Treasury secretary to establish both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile within 180 days of enactment. The Bitcoin facility would hold qualifying federal Bitcoin, while the separate stockpile would manage qualifying non-Bitcoin digital assets owned by the federal government.
The substitute retains one of the legislation’s most consequential custody provisions. Bitcoin deposited in the reserve would generally have to remain there for at least 20 years, with the bill barring sale, swaps, auctions, encumbrance or other disposal during that minimum holding period. The Treasury would later provide Congress with recommendations concerning longer-term retention or controlled releases.
One disclosure requirement has changed from the introduced text. The original H.R. 8957 called for quarterly public Proof of Reserve reports, while the substitute posted for Wednesday’s markup changes that requirement to an annual report. The revised text would still require information on holdings, transactions and control of private keys, alongside verification by an independent third-party auditor and oversight by the Comptroller General.
Bill Also Addresses Future Bitcoin Acquisitions
The substitute goes beyond custody of assets already controlled by the government. It directs Treasury and Commerce to study whether additional Bitcoin could be acquired through lawful, budget-neutral mechanisms, including potential use of non-Bitcoin digital assets, forfeiture proceeds and cooperative arrangements. The provision explicitly states that the study does not authorize new taxation, deficit spending, borrowing or the pledging of federal assets as collateral to acquire Bitcoin.
The September 16 markup therefore determines neither final House approval nor establishment of the reserve itself. The immediate legislative question is what version of H.R. 8957, if any, the committee chooses to report to the full House, including whether Steil’s substitute and any additional amendments are adopted. Any resulting measure would still have to clear the House and Senate and be presented to the president before its reserve provisions could take effect.