U.S. moves ahead in strategic Bitcoin reserve plan: ‘To spur American innovation’

Key Takeaways

The U.S. Congress has instructed the Treasury to explore the practicality of a strategic BTC reserve and its potential impact on the Department’s functions. 

In its latest draft proposal, the U.S. House has introduced a bill that instructs the Department of the Treasury to report on the feasibility of establishing a strategic Bitcoin [BTC] reserve (SBR). 

Part of the bill read, 

“The Secretary of the Treasury is directed to issue a report to Committees on Appropriations…not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act on the practicability of establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and U.S. digital asset stockpile.”

The draft further asks for potential barriers to creating the reserve, the impact of the Treasury’s Forfeiture Fund, and relevant regulators and third parties that would be involved in custody services. 

While this showed a clear intent to explore SBR, it only asks for a related report. It’s not an outright directive for the establishment of the reserve.

The bill has been advanced from the committee, but was yet to be scheduled for a floor debate. 

Democrats ready for market structure bill

In another development, 12 Democrats have reportedly shown willingness to join their Republican colleagues to advance the crypto market structure bill. 

The group, led by Senator Ruben Gallego, enlisted seven principles that should guide the market structure framework, including closing regulatory gaps for non-security crypto assets. 

They added that the $4 trillion market was too large and with immense potential to be left in a regulatory limbo. 

“Digital asset technology has the potential to unlock new businesses and spur American innovation. But questions about digital assets’ place in the U.S. regulatory framework have hobbled both innovation and consumer protection.”

But noted that a strong bipartisan outcome ‘cannot be rushed.’

This will set the stage for bipartisan engagements on the bill. Republican and pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis hailed the Democrats’ input, calling it a ‘strong start’.

“Meaningful legislation takes intentional collaboration & discussion. This is a strong start, and I look forward to working together to secure America’s financial future.”

That said, Republicans are expected to advance their bill out of the committee by the end of September. The final form will accommodate Democrats’ views via bipartisan negotiations, and this could extend beyond October. 

The hashed-out bill could then be set for Senate floor considerations later in Q4 or early 2026. In fact, the market was pricing only a 30% chance of the bill’s passage by 2025. 

For his part, Adam Minehardt, Head of Public Policy at Chainlink [LINK], termed the move as ‘positive.’ He added that,

“Great to see it and hope this continues as this legislation does not happen without 60 votes in the Senate and there are only 53 Republicans.”