US Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced the Bitcoin Act of 2024 to a vote in Congress, which would create a strategic reserve for the country's first cryptocurrency.
“[It is proposed] to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and other programs to ensure transparent management of the Federal Government’s Bitcoin assets, offset costs through the use of certain Federal Reserve System (FRS) resources, and for other purposes,” the document says.
According to the initiative, the purpose of the reserve is to “generate, store, and manage private keys associated with government bitcoin assets.”
The bill calls for the purchase of 1 million BTC (no more than 200,000 BTC per year for five years). The Fed's gold reserves would be used for this purpose.
The storage period for digital assets will be at least 20 years, but the document provides for exceptions. Responsibility for the safety and monitoring of cryptocurrency will be assigned to the so-called "secretary". He is also required to create a system of proof of reserves.
"The Secretary shall ensure that [reserve] facilities are geographically distributed throughout the United States to minimize the risk of simultaneous compromise and enhance resilience," the bill says.
In addition, after the minimum holding period has expired, the Secretary shall not recommend the sale of more than 10% of the assets in the reserve during a two-year period.
The bill also introduces several terms, including “airdrop,” “bitcoin purchase program,” “cold storage,” and “fork.” Almost all of these are consistent with established wording. However, in places where the broader word “cryptocurrency” is needed, simply “bitcoin” is used.
For example, an airdrop means “a gratuitous distribution of digital assets to Bitcoin holders in a large, fair, and non-discretionary manner.”
Earlier, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz predicted the digital gold rate at $500,000 if a strategic reserve is created in the US. However, he fears that its creation will be hampered by the struggle between the branches of government.
Let us recall that the founder of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, called the Bitcoin reserve “the best deal of the 21st century.”
