A bill currently underway in Washington would make Bitcoin an official U.S. government reserve asset for the first time in history. Introduced on March 30, 2026, the Mined in America Act would require the U.S. Treasury to accumulate up to one million Bitcoins over 20 years.
It would mark a policy shift so significant that its supporters gave it a name borrowed from the country’s monetary history and its relationship with gold: the Orange Standard.
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The White House executive director said an announcement would be coming soon regarding a strategic Bitcoin reserve:
"We will have an announcement… This is a major step forward in that everything is in place, legally sound, and properly protecting the assets."
– Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 18, 2026
The White House executive director said an announcement would be coming soon regarding a strategic Bitcoin reserve:
This name raises an obvious question for anyone new to this space. What exactly is Standard Orange? Why does the US government want to hold Bitcoin? And what does all this mean for you as an investor?
Such a monumental move by the United States comes as the broader crypto market continues to bleed, with BTC itself trading at $77,400, down almost 10% from last week’s high of $82,500.
$BTC the rebound lacks real force.
Spot volume is down with Coinbase Bitcoin Premium.
IMO, once OI resets, BTC will reverse its entire short-term rally. pic.twitter.com/gyNkjnwwcX
– Ted (@TedPillows) May 20, 2026
What is the US Strategic Reserve of BTC, in simple terms?
The gold standard once supported the U.S. dollar with physical gold, giving it credibility due to the limited supply of gold. In 1971, the United States abandoned this system in favor of fiat currency, leading to concerns about inflation from excessive money printing.
The Bitcoin Strategic Reserve proposes to support a portion of the national balance sheet with Bitcoin, held in decentralized storage across the United States. The concept, known as the Orange Standard, highlights Bitcoin’s capped supply of 21 million coins as a more reliable scarcity than gold.
Similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which holds crude oil as an emergency buffer, the Bitcoin Reserve aims to ensure monetary sovereignty by securing a valuable asset before crises arise.
The US government seized approximately 200,000 BTC through criminal forfeitures, which were deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under a no-sale rule by President Trump’s Executive Order of 2025, with the Mined in America Act providing the legislative framework for this initiative.
(SOURCE: Arkham)
What the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Bill Really Proposes
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has been a leading advocate for a national Bitcoin reserve since at least 2024, when she introduced the BITCOIN Act (S.4912), which proposed that the Treasury purchase 1 million BTC over 5 years and hold it for at least 20 years.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) then joined him in the Mined in America Act, introduced on March 30, 2026, which extends the acquisition schedule and includes a national energy infrastructure component.
The program aims to acquire up to 1 million BTC, or approximately 5% of the total supply, by reducing excess Federal Reserve balances without resorting to printing new money.
The legislation also creates Bitcoin green zones, incentivizing miners to operate near renewable energy sources, stabilizing the grid by using excess energy during periods of low demand.
The bill still requires Senate committee approval, reconciliation with its House counterpart introduced by Rep. Nick Begich and final votes to become law. Legal analysts view this reserve structure as a significant shift in treating Bitcoin the same as gold in the federal portfolio.
In contrast, a separate 2025 executive order established a digital asset stockpile in the United States for non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies. Only Bitcoin will be treated as a permanent reserve, marking a deliberate distinction in federal policy.
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Bitcoin vs Gold: why BTC, not something else?
The question many skeptics ask is: why Bitcoin? Gold has a rich 5,000-year history as a monetary asset, while Bitcoin is only 16 years old and has seen its value drop significantly.
Proponents argue three main points in favor of BTC. First, its supply is set at 21 million coins, with issuance halved every four years, making it less vulnerable to manipulation than gold, whose supply increases by 1.5 to 2 percent per year.
Second, Bitcoin is easily verifiable and portable through public blockchains, unlike the opaque auditing processes associated with gold reserves.
Finally, geopolitical interest is growing, with countries like El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and others closely monitoring moves by the United States regarding a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
However, critics point out that BTC is not a stable store of value in the short term. Its correlation with stocks, particularly during stock market crashes, raises concerns about introducing volatility into national financial statements.
Additionally, projections of Bitcoin’s impact on the federal debt vary widely depending on price assumptions, creating uncertainty.
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The post What is “Standard Orange”? The post US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Explained appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
