In brief
- If passed, Treasury would have 90 days to report on feasibility, legal authority, custody, and cybersecurity.
- The bill also calls for details on interagency transfers and balance sheet treatment of digital assets.
- Federal definitions could set benchmarks for custody and accounting across the industry, Decrypt was told.
Two sections of a U.S. House appropriations bill filed Friday seek to require the Treasury Department to study the feasibility of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and outline custody, cybersecurity, and accounting for government-held digital assets.
Reported by Representative David Joyce (R-OH), the bill was approved by the House Appropriations Committee and, on September 5, was placed on the Union Calendar, the docket for House measures involving spending and revenue that are eligible for floor consideration.
The congressman’s press office did not immediately return Decrypt’s request for comment.
Lawmakers now want the Treasury to determine whether a reserve is feasible and to spell out how it would be governed, from custody and cybersecurity to legal authority and interagency coordination.
Section 137 of the bill instructs the Treasury to report on “the practicability of establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile,” including its impact on the Treasury Forfeiture Fund and the authorities that could enable asset transfers.
Section 138, meanwhile, requires a 90-day plan covering “custody architecture, legal authorities, cybersecurity protocols, and interagency procedures” for digital assets held by the federal government.
“If passed, this will mean that the Treasury is tackling the exact same operational and legal issues every institutional custodian in this space faces,” Kurt Watkins, founder of tech-focused law firm Watkins Legal, told Decrypt.
Once set, the Treasury would define “custody standards, key management practices, and accounting treatment for Bitcoin at the federal level,” with those choices likely setting “a baseline for the broader industry,” Watkins said.
The provisions build on President Donald Trump’s March executive order, which created the reserve in concept.
“Trump’s executive order created the framework for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but it left the mechanics vague,” Watkins said.
The bill suggests that Congress is “now moving to enshrine it into law and requiring that the US Treasury Department fill in the blanks,” Watkins said.
Assuming the bill passes, Treasury has to “lay out whether a reserve is practicable, how custody would be structured, what legal authority it would rely on,” he explained.
Further, it would also seek to define “what cybersecurity protections would be in place, how interagency transfers would work, and even how Bitcoin and other digital assets would be booked on the government’s balance sheet,” Watkins said.
The bill now awaits consideration on the House floor, where its progress will hinge on wider negotiations over federal spending.
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