U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill Advances Despite CLARITY Act Setback

Washington's broader crypto agenda hit a roadblock in the Senate, but a separate effort to formalize a federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is now moving through the House. The House Financial Services Committee has taken up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act. Introduced in May and referred to the committee, the bill would place a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on a statutory basis and set parameters for how the federal government manages Bitcoin it holds. The committee action comes shortly after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act in a 49–50 procedural vote, well below the 60 votes required. A central feature of H.R. 8957 is a long lockup period. Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would generally be subject to a minimum 20-year holding requirement, sharply limiting the government's ability to sell or otherwise dispose of the assets. The proposal also calls for greater transparency around federal Bitcoin holdings through reporting and reserve-management requirements. Market participants are likely to watch the holding rule closely, as government-held BTC has often been viewed as a potential source of future selling pressure. The bill also draws a clear line on what it does not do: it does not direct the Treasury to buy massive quantities of Bitcoin immediately. Instead, it emphasizes consolidating and managing existing federal holdings, while examining ways additional BTC could potentially be acquired without raising taxes, increasing borrowing, or adding to the federal deficit. That narrower scope contrasts with the CLARITY Act, which aimed to establish a comprehensive framework for the broader U.S. digital asset market. The Senate's failure to move CLARITY contributed to Bitcoin sliding below $75,000 and helped spark leveraged selling, with roughly $300 million in crypto long positions liquidated shortly after the vote. Unlike CLARITY, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve legislation focuses specifically on how the federal government holds and administers Bitcoin rather than rewriting rules for the wider crypto industry.