Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate Tuesday that would authorize the U.S. government to buy up one million additional Bitcoin and codify President Donald Trump’s pledged strategic Bitcoin reserve.
“By transforming the president's visionary executive action into enduring law, we can ensure that our nation will harness the full potential of digital innovation to address our national debt while maintaining our competitive edge in the global economy,” Lummis said in a statement shared with Decrypt.
The bill, dubbed the BITCOIN Act, already has five cosponsors in the Senate, all Republicans. They include Jim Justice (R-WV), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH), whose election to the Senate in November was aided considerably by pro-crypto super PACs.
Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) also plans to introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives on Tuesday mirroring the BITCOIN Act.
Lummis’ act would obligate the U.S. government to purchase one million BTC—a sum worth some $80 billion at writing—over a 5-year period. That huge expenditure would be funded in part by net earnings of the Federal Reserve.
The bill would also require the Treasury Secretary to establish “a decentralized network of secure Bitcoin storage facilities distributed across the United States,” where large quantities of the token would be held in cold wallets.
It would also be paid for by the Treasury Department issuing new certificates for the Federal Reserve’s gold holdings reflecting current market prices. The Fed would then pay the difference between the old certificates and the new ones to fund the Bitcoin program.
The Treasury Secretary would be responsible for both coordinating the acquisition of new Bitcoin and maintaining the reserve. All new BTC added to the program would have to be held for at least 20 years before it could be sold. And any current or future Treasury secretary would be prohibited from selling off more than 10 percent of the reserve during any two-year period.
That potential openness, though, to the U.S. government eventually selling off any amount of its stockpiled BTC to turn a profit, is distinct from the White House’s position on the subject.
Last week, after President Trump signed an executive order establishing a federal Bitcoin reserve, senior White House officials told Decrypt that the digital asset should be held indefinitely with the aim of generating “long term value.”
The White House has also emphasized that any plan of theirs to acquire additional Bitcoin for the reserve would have to be budget neutral. Lummis’ proposal appears to be far more bold.
Editor's note: Story updated for clarity.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.