Rep. Matt Van Epps, a freshman congressman from Tennessee’s 7th District, co-led the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (ARMA) this week, presenting it as a direct reflection of the burgeoning Bitcoin ecosystem in his own district. Van Epps highlighted Nashville’s emergence as a leading Bitcoin hub, citing the presence of Bitcoin Park, a growing digital asset community, and the annual Bitcoin conference set to return to the city in 2027. He emphasized that supporting ARMA is a way to support the financial innovation taking place in his constituency.

Co-led with Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK), the ARMA bill seeks to codify President Trump’s March 2025 executive order, which established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. By giving it the force of statute, the legislation aims to prevent the reserve from being subject to the discretion of future administrations. This reserve would be housed within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and would hold Bitcoin (BTC) acquired through federal law enforcement forfeitures and civil penalties. Van Epps stressed that the reserve would be established “without cost to American taxpayers.”

A central tenet of Van Epps’ argument for the legislation is fiscal responsibility, particularly in light of the national debt, which he stated stands at $39 trillion. Under ARMA, any future sale of Bitcoin from this reserve would be exclusively dedicated to reducing the national debt, with no provisions for transfers to other government programs or discretionary spending. The bill also includes crucial language affirming the federal government’s inability to interfere with an individual’s right to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets, aligning with the libertarian principles often found within the pro-Bitcoin caucus in Congress.

Van Epps views the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as a potential solution to significant national problems, with the national debt being paramount. He believes Bitcoin’s fixed supply and appreciation over time offer a unique tool that traditional gold certificates and reserves cannot match. The legislation mandates that BTC in the reserve be held for a minimum of 20 years, intending to remove the asset from short-term political considerations and treat it as a generational balance sheet decision. To ensure transparency, the bill requires quarterly public Proof of Reserve reports and independent third-party audits, a layer of statutory accountability that the existing executive order lacks. Eighteen original co-sponsors from nine states have signed on, though the path to securing 60 votes in the Senate remains uncertain due to competing crypto legislation.