90 days to Digital Fort Knox begins with Congress, which set a deadline for Treasury to stipulate a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a companion custody plan that might govern federal digital asset holdings.
The reported FY2026 Monetary Companies and Common Authorities invoice, H.R. 5166, directs Treasury to ship a practicability report on a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile inside 90 days of enactment and to file, on the identical schedule, a technical plan for custody and cybersecurity that features therapy on the federal steadiness sheet, the function of the Forfeiture Fund, and a listing of potential third-party custodians.
A March govt motion already described the reserve idea and a federal stockpile framework, in addition to the appropriations language layers in timelines, reporting necessities, and operational element.
A ahead view activates float, flows, and the brand new ETF plumbing
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded merchandise gained permission for in-kind creations and redemptions on July 29, which lets approved members transfer bitcoin instantly as an alternative of changing to money.
This adjustment reduces main market frictions for creations and redemptions, and it may well change the best way liquidity shocks move by to the spot market as a result of issuers and market makers can assemble and break baskets with fewer money conversions.
As of September 17, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs held about 1.318 million BTC, and web inflows over the prior 30 days had been about 20,958 BTC.
Towards post-halving issuance of roughly 3.125 BTC per block, about 450 BTC per day, new provide throughout a 90-day coverage window is about 40,500 BTC.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve query is whether or not Treasury’s posture – maintain, web purchase, or lend – provides to the prevailing ETF sink, stands apart, or supplies borrowing to market makers that deepen order books with out including outright gross sales.
Holdings reconciliation shapes the beginning stock for any reserve.
In line with U.S. Marshals Service disclosures obtained by way of FOIA, USMS at present controls roughly 29,000 BTC which have moved by its forfeiture pipeline.
In line with Arkham Intelligence, complete Bitcoin below U.S. authorities management throughout businesses is nearer to about 198,000 BTC, together with long-running Silk Street seizures, Bitfinex recoveries, and different circumstances the place authorized course of and sufferer restitution timelines differ by matter.
The hole between about 29,000 and about 198,000 BTC displays company scope, authorized finality and staging somewhat than a single pockets, and H.R. 5166 explicitly asks Treasury to clarify switch authorities and Forfeiture Fund impacts, which suggests that interagency consolidation is a coverage variable, not an accounting footnote.
The coverage lever then turns into posture. A pure maintain stance would consolidate lastly forfeited bitcoin right into a named reserve account, with out new purchases or lending.
If 29,000 BTC had been consolidated and locked, the tradable float would shrink by that quantity instantly, whereas miners add about 40,500 BTC over 90 days, so web float would nonetheless develop until ETF and different sinks outpace issuance.
If authorized finality and switch mechanics moved a bigger slice, for instance, 100,000 BTC, the one-time float discount would exceed three months of recent issuance, which might change order guide depth and the worth influence of enormous orders in stress.
Tutorial work on free float and liquidity reveals that decrease free float can increase market influence for a given order dimension, which interprets on this context to bigger intraday slippage when order books skinny throughout sell-offs or squeezes.
Order guide depth and slippage swing materially round stress occasions, which helps a story the place float modifications and ETF plumbing work together to change realized volatility.
A web purchaser posture would goal predictable accumulation with budget-neutral mechanics that use lastly forfeited proceeds or approved transfers somewhat than new appropriations.
Schedule to absord miner issuance
A easy schedule, for instance, about 137 BTC per day, roughly 12,300 BTC throughout 90 days, would take up almost a 3rd of miner issuance throughout the identical interval. Pair that with current ETF web inflows, and the mixed sink can outpace issuance with out advert hoc bursts of demand.
The SEC’s in-kind regime lowers hedging prices for approved members, which, mixed with a gentle reserve bid, can scale back creation and redemption slippage that beforehand amplified money conversions into spot prints throughout move surges.
A structured lending posture would keep away from outright gross sales or web shopping for, and as an alternative prolong term-limited, collateralized loans of bitcoin stock to market makers and ETF-authorized members.
That stock helps in-kind baskets, market-making stock, and borrow availability for foundation trades.
Float doesn’t fall into this setup, but depth can enhance on the prime of the guide, and realized volatility can ease throughout redemptions as a result of members can supply cash by borrowing somewhat than compelled purchases.
The trade-off is governance and credit score coverage, together with haircuts, eligible collateral, and transparency round counterparties, which H.R. 5166 anticipates by its custody and cybersecurity plan requirement.
These posture decisions work together with ETF flows and issuance, and the coverage math is simple.
The desk beneath frames a 90-day window utilizing current ETF knowledge, issuance, and illustrative reserve actions.
| Treasury posture | SBR web move (90d) | ETF web move (90d)* | New issuance (90d) | Web Δ tradable float (≈ SBR + ETF − Issuance) | Doubtless market impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HODL 29k consolidation | +29,000 (lockup) | +20,000 (30D run-rate ×3 ≈ +63k; use conservative +20k)** | 40,500 | +8,500 | Gentle sink; supportive |
| HODL 100k consolidation | +100,000 | +20,000 | 40,500 | +79,500 | Robust sink; tighter float |
| Web-buy 12k (≈137 BTC/day) | +12,300 | +20,000 | 40,500 | −8,200 | Close to balanced; is dependent upon flows |
| Web-buy 30k | +30,000 | +60,000 | 40,500 | +49,500 | Clear sink; bullish bias |
| Lending 50k line (no sale) | ~0 (no web sale) | +20,000 | 40,500 | −20,500 | Impartial to slight provide progress; however decrease vol by way of depth |
* ETF web move proven over a 90-day horizon.
** 30-day run charge scaled ×3 suggests ≈ +63k; utilizing conservative +20k.
Consolidation rows deal with reserve transfers as float reductions that aren’t accessible to commerce, which is helpful for framing market influence.
The lending row reveals a path the place float doesn’t decline, but order guide resilience can enhance. The ETF column must be refreshed at publication utilizing the identical WalletPilot tracker, and the issuance column holds until the block manufacturing charge shifts.
Macro context helps body the U.S. selection
Germany’s federal police liquidated about 50,000 BTC in mid-2024, a sale path that ended earlier than the next rally and now anchors public debate about timing, proceeds, and loss versus maintain methods.
El Salvador continues to function a nationwide bitcoin place in parallel with an IMF program, which reveals that reserve coverage can coexist with orthodox funding preparations when disclosures, custody, and operational controls are clear.
The Philippines has a invoice on the desk that might construct a ten,000 BTC reserve over a number of years with lockups, which provides a staged template for accumulation and governance disclosures.
Though these cross-market circumstances should not direct analogues, they’re helpful comparators for cadence, transparency, and coverage goals.
The custody stack is unlikely to begin from scratch. Per public contracting information, the U.S. Marshals Service maintains an institutional custody relationship with Coinbase Prime for seized digital property. H.R. 5166 requires the Treasury to stock third-party custody choices in its 90-day plan, together with cyber controls and steadiness sheet presentation.
The sensible query, subsequently, shifts from whether or not the federal authorities can custody Bitcoin to how reserve guidelines, accounting, and interagency transfers will likely be structured as soon as Congress finalizes the car that triggers the reporting clock.
Flows and plumbing set the ahead path for volatility
Digital asset funds noticed multi-billion greenback inflows by late summer season, with the U.S. main, which retains the ETF sink energetic.
The present ETF base already removes greater than one million bitcoin from tradable circulation, and in-kind operations decrease conversion frictions for future creations and redemptions.
If the Treasury adopts a pure maintain posture with sizeable consolidation, realized volatility can rise in stress as free float falls, whereas a lending posture can blunt stress by boosting borrow with out gross sales.
A web purchaser posture, even at modest scale, can flip the mixed ETF plus reserve bid right into a persistent sink that absorbs issuance most weeks, which tightens the steadiness between accessible provide and passive demand.
The headline clock is actual, but it begins solely after enactment.
In line with Congress.gov, H.R. 5166 requires the Treasury to ship a practicability research for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a custody and cybersecurity structure inside 90 days of the invoice changing into regulation, with express therapy of switch authorities, the Forfeiture Fund, and third-party custodians.
