The Strategic Reserve of Fugazi

This morning, the House Financial Services Committee introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) of 2026 for markup, intended to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile under governance of the US Treasury.

But said Reserve and Stockpile had (allegedly) already been created via Executive Order beginning of last year – and is doing "incredibly well," according to President Trump's press remarks at last month's White House meeting with technology leaders.

ARMA and the House Financial Servics Committee now treat the supposedly thriving Strategic Reserve as factually non-existent.

Congress Contradicts Executive Order 14233

In March of last year, President Trump ordered the Government to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile via Executive Order 14233. The establishment of the "SBR" had been widely praised throughout mainstream media, and seemingly very little questioned.

The new ARMA Bill appears to make no note of the Executive Order that allegedly established the supposedly operational Bitcoin Reserve.

Instead, it orders the Treasury to do pretty much exactly what the EO had ordered the Treasury to do: bring all US-held digital assets stemming from justice and law-enforcement action under control of the Treasury to be held as US Government reserve assets.

As Chairman Hill told the committee today: "this Bill establishes a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve [...] within the Department of the Treasury for federally held Bitcoin [...] that the Government has acquired though justice and law enforcement efforts of criminal or civil forfeiture."

"This is a common sense measure that brings digital assets held across a variety of federal agnencies under careful custody of the US Treasury consistent with oversight, strengthening of security, transparency and accountability of these now Government held assets."

A common sense measure that was allegedly established over a year ago.

The Bill itself too treats the allegedly by EO established SBR as factually non-existent, clarifying that "until the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile have been fully established and certified operational pursuant to section 4(a), each Federal agency shall retain custody of its Bitcoin holdings in accordance with existing law."

The above instruction herein contradicts the alleged fact that a Strategic Reserve has been established at all, instead ordering agencies to continue to hold on to their digital assets. Assets that, according to the Trump administration, are already supposed to be in the Reserve.

It also suggest that there is, in fact, no "fully established" or "operational" Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that Congress could address.

Where is the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Treasury Office?

Last year's Executive Order was clear on what steps the Treasury should take to establish the SBR.

This included the creation of an office "to administer and maintain control of custodial accounts collectively known as the 'Strategic Bitcoin Reserve'" and the Digital Asset Stockpile.

One and a half years after the EO, no such office exists in the Treasury's public organizational chart or the Treasury's publicly listed offices. A search for orders and directives issued by the Treasury containing the term "Bitcoin" returns no results. The Treasury's 2025 Fiscal Report similarly makes no mention of a "Bitcoin Reserve" or its Executive Order.

A freedom of information request filed by The Rage to obtain any communication regarding the office's establishment, staffing, structure, authorities, funding, or operation remains pending.

While The Block reported that an audit of the US Government's digital assets had taken place following the EO, no such audit appears to have been made publicly available. The Block did not respond to The Rage's request for comment at time of publication on what sources its research team obtained to assert such an audit had been conducted.

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