US lawmakers advance bill to codify Trump's Bitcoin reserve

US lawmakers have advanced a bill that would write Donald Trump's Bitcoin reserve policy into law, moving to give a programme established through executive action a statutory footing.

As described, the legislation would lock up bitcoin acquired through civil and criminal forfeiture for 20 years. The provision covers coins obtained through civil and criminal forfeiture, held in place rather than released.

Codifying the policy would convert an executive-branch initiative into a statutory requirement, making the arrangement harder to unwind than a policy resting on executive action alone. For market participants, the practical effect would be to keep the seized coins off the market for the duration of the lock-up.

The bill has advanced in Congress but is not yet law, and the timeline for further consideration has not been set out.