Strategic Bitcoin Reserves: federal and state

The federal reserve: Executive Order 14233

Signed March 6, 2025, the order sets up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve inside the Treasury Department. The reserve is funded with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was finally forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings, or in civil money-penalty cases. Bitcoin placed in the reserve “shall not be sold.”^[1][2]

A separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile holds forfeited assets other than bitcoin. Treasury may decide how to manage it, which can include selling from it. The government will not add to it beyond forfeitures.^[1][2]

The Treasury and Commerce secretaries may develop budget-neutral strategies to acquire more bitcoin, as long as they impose no extra cost on taxpayers. Each agency had to review its legal authority to transfer bitcoin to the reserve and give a full accounting of its holdings to Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. Treasury had to deliver a legal and investment evaluation within 60 days.^[1]

What the order does not do: it appropriates no money and does not authorize buying bitcoin with new federal spending. It keeps the existing rules for returning assets to crime victims, for law enforcement use, and for sharing with state and local partners. It is carried out subject to applicable law and available appropriations. Because it is an executive order rather than a statute, a future administration could change it.^[1]

What has happened since

The President’s Working Group published its digital-asset report on July 30, 2025. On Aug. 14, 2025, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote that forfeited bitcoin “will be the foundation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and that Treasury is committed to exploring budget-neutral ways to acquire more.^[3][4]

We found no published Treasury inventory, audit or official count of the reserve’s holdings as of Oct. 17, 2026. The agency accountings the order required have not been released, and a public-records request for them is still pending. Because there is no official number, this page does not give a holdings figure. Totals you may see elsewhere are third-party estimates.^[5]

Congress has not passed any reserve legislation. The bill that has gone furthest is H.R.8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act. On Sept. 16, 2026, House Financial Services voted 28-21 to report it with an amendment. As introduced, it would create the reserve in law, require holdings to be kept for at least 20 years, require quarterly proof-of-reserve reports with an independent auditor, and add GAO oversight. The full House has not voted on it. The BITCOIN Act (S.954 and H.R.2032) would go further: Treasury would buy 1,000,000 bitcoin over five years.^[6][7][8][9]

The three state laws

Texas SB 21, signed June 20, 2025, creates a reserve fund outside the state treasury, run by the comptroller. It may buy only assets with an average market cap of at least $500 billion over 24 months, and it requires a qualified custodian with cold storage plus an independent audit. Lawmakers appropriated $10 million. The comptroller made a $5 million initial purchase on Nov. 20, 2025, held as a placeholder investment while a custodian was hired.^[10][11][12]

New Hampshire HB 302, signed May 6, 2025, lets the state treasurer invest up to 5% each of the general fund, the revenue stabilization reserve, and other authorized funds in precious metals and digital assets with a market cap over $500 billion. Holdings may be kept in a secure custody solution, with a qualified custodian, or through an exchange-traded product.^[13][14]

Arizona HB 2749, signed May 7, 2025, creates a Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund. The fund is filled with airdrops, staking rewards and interest earned on unclaimed digital assets, not with new spending. Arizona’s governor vetoed three other reserve bills that year, including SB 1025. That bill would have let the treasurer and two retirement systems invest up to 10% of the money they control in virtual currency.^[15][16]

Elsewhere, Utah’s HB 230 passed the House with an investment authority that the Senate later removed. Connecticut went the other way: Public Act 25-66 bars the state and its local governments from holding or investing in virtual currency, or from setting up a reserve of it.^[17][18]

Arguments made for a reserve

Protection against inflation and a falling dollar. Bill findings, such as Tennessee’s HB 1695, say rising prices erode what state reserves can buy, and they treat bitcoin’s fixed supply as a hedge.^[19]

Scarcity and being early. The White House argued that a supply capped at just under 21 million gives “a strategic advantage” to the first nations to hold a reserve. It also said earlier sales of forfeited bitcoin had cost taxpayers more than $17 billion (the administration’s own estimate) and that holdings were scattered across agencies.^[2]

No new taxpayer cost, and small caps. The federal reserve and Arizona’s fund rely on forfeited or unclaimed assets. Sponsors present capped allocations, such as New Hampshire’s 5%, as diversification rather than a big bet.^[1][15][13]

Arguments made against a reserve

Volatility. In a February 2025 Clark Center survey, economists overwhelmingly rejected the claims that crypto would lower the risk of central-bank reserves or that the US would gain from borrowing to build a crypto reserve. One panelist called crypto “an extremely volatile asset class.”^[20]

Fiscal risk with public money. Rainy-day and general funds exist to cover emergencies, and a large price drop at the wrong moment could force cuts or a sale at a loss. Most state bills cap exposure at 3% to 10%, and Connecticut banned public holdings outright.^[18]

Custody, transparency and fairness. Governments holding bitcoin directly have to protect private keys against theft, insider misuse and loss, which is why the laws require custodians, cold storage or audits. The federal reserve has not published an inventory. Some critics argue that crime victims should come before any forfeiture reserve; the order keeps the victim-return exceptions in place.^{[10][13][5][1]}

FAQ

Does the US government buy bitcoin?

Not under current policy. The executive order funds the reserve with forfeited bitcoin and only allows acquisition strategies that cost taxpayers nothing extra. Bills that would require purchases, such as the BITCOIN Act, have not passed.^[1][8]

How much bitcoin does the federal reserve hold?

No official, audited figure had been published as of Oct. 17, 2026, so we don’t give one.^[5]

Which states have a bitcoin reserve law?

Texas, New Hampshire and Arizona. Texas is the only one that has made a purchase.^{[11][14][15][12]}

Can a reserve sell its bitcoin?

It depends on the law. The federal order says reserve bitcoin shall not be sold. Arizona’s law lets the legislature move some non-bitcoin assets to the general fund, but not bitcoin.^[1][15]

Is any of this permanent?

State laws stay in force until a legislature changes them. A future president can revise the federal order. Bills in Congress would write the reserve into law, but none has passed.^[1][6]

Does this affect my own bitcoin?

No. These laws only cover assets that governments hold. How you buy and store your own bitcoin is unchanged.