U.S. Senators Draft “Bitcoin Strategic Reserve” Bill
According to previous reports by Zombit, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has drafted a bill aimed at including Bitcoin as a U.S. strategic reserve asset. According to the draft content obtained by CoinDesk, the plan will recalculate the value of these gold certificates at market value so that they can be used to support the funding needs of Bitcoin purchase plans. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican known for her pro-Bitcoin policy stances, announced the proposal on Saturday at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
According to the draft, the Secretary of the Treasury will establish a decentralized and secure network of Bitcoin storage facilities across the United States. Site selection will be based on a comprehensive risk assessment, prioritizing geographic diversity, security, and accessibility. The Treasury Secretary will establish a five-year Bitcoin purchase plan of up to 200,000 BTC per year, with a target total purchase of 1 million BTC. The bitcoins will be kept for at least 20 years and can only be used to pay down federal debt. Thereafter, no more than 10% of the assets may be sold in any two-year period.
Sources of funds to buy Bitcoin
The draft states that Bitcoin purchases will be financed in several ways:
The first would be to set aside $6 billion from the Federal Reserve's net proceeds to the Treasury between fiscal years 2025 and 2029 and reduce the remaining funds available to the Federal Reserve banks from $6.825 billion to $2.4 billion.
Alternatively, within six months of the bill taking effect, the Federal Reserve Bank must submit all of its outstanding gold certificates to the Secretary of the Treasury. Within 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury will issue new gold certificates to the Federal Reserve Bank that reflect the fair market value of gold. The Federal Reserve Bank will remit the difference in cash value between the old certificate and the new certificate to the Treasury Secretary to support the funding needs of the Bitcoin purchase plan.
As of July 24, the Federal Reserve held gold stocks valued at $11 billion, according to the central bank's latest balance sheet update. This valuation is likely based on the official U.S. book value of $42.22 per ounce, which is the price the New York Fed uses to value its gold, with the actual market value being much higher than that. Gold is currently trading around $2,400 per ounce.
Source
