While critics dismissed it as a political stunt last year, Senator Cynthia Lummis’s BITCOIN Act has stormed back into the legislative spotlight with surprising momentum. Reintroduced on March 11, 2025, with bipartisan backing, the bill follows President Trump’s executive order establishing crypto reserves. Timing is everything in politics, and this comeback couldn’t be more calculated.
The legislation proposes something that would’ve sounded insane a decade ago: buying up to 1 million Bitcoin over five years. That’s roughly $80 billion at current prices. Not exactly pocket change. The Treasury Department would handle acquisition and storage, with a mandatory 20-year minimum holding period. They can’t just dump it when the next administration takes over, either—the bill restricts selling more than 10% within any two-year period.
How to pay for this massive Bitcoin shopping spree? Not directly from taxpayers, thank goodness. The funding mechanisms tap Federal Reserve earnings and updated gold valuations. The whole thing aims to be budget-neutral. They’re even considering accepting Bitcoin donations. Seriously.
The $80 billion Bitcoin acquisition won’t touch taxpayer wallets, relying instead on Fed earnings and gold reserve revaluation.
Political support is growing. Five Republican Senators have co-sponsored the bill, and Rep. Nick Begich introduced a companion bill in the House. The BITCOIN Act aims to strengthen economic foundation while maintaining individual rights for private Bitcoin holders. Pro-crypto groups flexed their muscles in recent elections, and lawmakers noticed.
The economic implications are potentially enormous. Supporters claim the reserve could offset the national debt by $21 trillion by 2049. That’s either brilliant foresight or magical thinking, depending on who you ask. The bill’s advocates point to the continuous growth in market capitalization as evidence of Bitcoin’s long-term value potential.
This differs markedly from Trump’s executive order, which focused on using seized Bitcoin—about 200,000 BTC—rather than scheduled acquisitions. The executive order from March 6 explicitly prohibits the sale of any Bitcoin held in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, ensuring long-term hodling at the federal level.
If passed, the U.S. would become the largest long-term Bitcoin holder globally. That’s bound to influence markets and crypto adoption worldwide. Other countries might follow suit. Government involvement in crypto? The irony isn’t lost on early Bitcoin adopters who sought freedom from government-controlled money. Times change. Fast.
