Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is among the lawmakers who cosponsored a bill Tuesday that would purchase one million Bitcoin for the U.S. government.
The Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment, or BITCOIN Act, was reintroduced to the U.S. Senate by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., on March 11. Lummis originally filed the bill in July 2024.
Rep. Nick Begich, R-Ark., has also filed a companion version of Lummis’s bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The two versions of the act were announced by the lawmakers at a summit held by the Bitcoin Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Tuberville is among the act’s cosponsors, alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.
“Creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is an important step in making sure the United States remains the strongest economy in the world. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t use Bitcoin to pay down our national debt,” Tuberville said. “Like President Trump, Bitcoin has shaken up the status quo in Washington D.C. and is completely revolutionizing the way Americans invest in their futures.”
The bill comes after a March 6 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which called for the establishment of a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
Trump’s order, made a day ahead of a White House summit for crypto executives, called for the establishment of this reserve using cryptocurrency tokens already held by the U.S. government.
Billionaire and White House “crypto czar,” David Sacks, told Bloomberg Technology this reserve would conduct an audit on and consolidate the federal government’s current crypto assets.
“The reason why we need a Bitcoin reserve is that the federal government already owns some. In fact, it obtained around 400,000 Bitcoin over the past decade through criminal and civil forfeitures,” Sacks said.
Lummis said she was proud to reintroduce legislation that would codify Trump’s vision and expand the reserve’s funds.
“Bitcoin is not simply a technological opportunity, but a national imperative for America’s continued financial leadership in the 21st century,” Lummis said. “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.”
The BITCOIN Act would establish a five-year Bitcoin Purchase Program to purchase 200,000 additional Bitcoin a year for the reserve. This would make up a total acquisition of one million Bitcoin, or what currently amounts to roughly $83 billion dollars.
Tuberville’s office wrote that, if the BITCOIN Act is passed and the total sum proposed is acquired, the reserve’s stake will make up roughly a five percent of total Bitcoin supply. This is a figure they say is roughly equivalent to the U.S.’s gold reserves.
Tuberville has previously called for an end to taxes paid for cryptocurrency mining.
The BITCOIN Act reads that all Bitcoin purchased by the program must be retained for a minimum of 20 years. The Secretary of the Treasury would be responsible for monitoring and auditing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
