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A new proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives would let Americans send bitcoin straight to the federal government at tax time and help grow a national stash of BTC at the same time. The “Bitcoin for America Act” from Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio would allow individuals and businesses to pay federal taxes in bitcoin without triggering capital gains on those coins. The bitcoin received would be directed into a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that was previously authorized by an executive order from President Donald Trump but has not yet been fully set up in law. Current onchain tracking already suggests U.S. authorities control close to 200,000 BTC linked to past seizures and holdings, worth tens of billions of dollars at recent prices.
The bill would amend the tax code so that income taxes and related charges such as penalties or interest can be settled with bitcoin, with those funds flowing into a reserve account managed at the federal level. According to summaries of the draft, coins placed in that reserve are meant to be held for the long term, with strict limits on how much could be sold in any given year and a minimum holding period of twenty years before any disposals begin. Supporters argue that this structure would formally codify the earlier executive order on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and turn BTC tax payments into a standing mechanism for diversifying U.S. national wealth into a scarce digital asset that might appreciate over time, rather than relying only on dollar based reserves that erode under inflation.
Davidson, who has backed bitcoin since the early 2010s, frames the proposal as both a modernization of the tax system and a way to expand payment options for taxpayers. Because the bitcoin used to pay taxes would go directly to the government, the bill is written so that taxpayers would not owe capital gains on the embedded profits of those coins, which is one of the main friction points today. He and other supporters say that more flexible payment rails could make it easier for people with limited access to traditional banking to stay compliant with the IRS and at the same time help the country accumulate a non inflationary store of value. The Bitcoin Policy Institute, a research group that backs the plan, describes it as a “market driven” and voluntary model for building a national bitcoin position rather than a top down mandate.
The idea still raises questions in Washington. When the White House first floated the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve earlier this year, officials said they did not want to use taxpayer money to fund it, and some critics now point out that a tax based BTC funding stream could blur that line even if participation is optional. The reserve itself has not yet been formally created in statute, and staff at the Treasury and the administration have signaled that Congress will need to spell out the structure before any large scale government bitcoin hoard can be considered active policy. Davidson’s legislation also lands late in the current legislative calendar and during a period of volatility in the bitcoin market, which means it may function more as a marker for future negotiations around crypto taxation and digital asset market structure than as a bill that races to the president’s desk.
Even so, the proposal highlights how bitcoin is creeping further into high level economic debates. The text of the bill leans heavily on the argument that other countries, including China, Russia and several emerging economies, are already exploring or accumulating bitcoin as part of their broader reserve mix. The authors warn that the United States risks falling behind if it does not build its own strategy for digital reserve assets. The Bitcoin for America Act will now have to move through key committees such as Ways and Means and Financial Services, and its progress will serve as a signal of how far U.S. lawmakers are really prepared to go in treating bitcoin as a national strategic asset rather than just a speculative investment.
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