U.S. States ahead of Fed on Bitcoin reserve path: Lummis

More than 30 U.S. states have explored the idea of publicly funded Bitcoin reserves, with at least two jurisdictions nearing the passage of related legislation.

Policy makers in Washington haven’t agreed on federal laws to create a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, Wyoming Republican Senator and chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital assets, Cynthia Lummis said at the New York Bitcoin Investor Week.

Utah and Arizona have pushed forward proposals to purchase Bitcoin using public funds, though not all lawmakers support the idea of state-run Bitcoin reserves.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, Lummis’ home state, have rejected Bitcoin reserve bills. Lawmakers in these states cited concerns over crypto speculation and digital asset risks, despite nearly $100 billion in institutional Bitcoin adoption through exchange-traded funds on Wall Street.

In the Senate, Lummis introduced a bill proposing that the Federal Reserve swap a portion of its gold reserves for Bitcoin. If enacted, the law would require the U.S. government to acquire up to 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply over five years.

At the White House, AI and crypto czar David Sacks reaffirmed Trump’s interest in establishing a national Bitcoin reserve during a statement in early February. However, he acknowledged that progress was still in its early stages and that the concept was under evaluation.

Lummis echoed similar sentiments in New York on Feb. 28, stating: “We don’t have enough people comfortable enough in the House and Senate to do this yet,” the Wyoming Senator remarked.

Stablecoins will likely be the starter pistol for digital asset frameworks. Lawmakers in both the Senate and the House presented bills standardizing stablecoin rules. At the first Senate Banking subcommittee hearing focused on crypto rule making, Senators and industry experts alike agreed stablecoins regulations should be prioritized.