Senator Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming, will introduce a bill to direct the U.S. Treasury to purchase 1 million bitcoins — worth about $68 billion at current prices — over a period of five years next week, she said in an interview with The Block. The move is made to counter the effects of dollar debasement, she said.
“Bitcoin BTC +3.14% is a great store of value. Over the last four years or so it has increased about 55% per year. During the same period, the U.S. dollar has declined in value and we’ve seen increasing inflation,” Sen Lummis said.
“So it would be of value, in my opinion, to have a hard asset that backs the U.S. dollar and that grows in value instead of declines in value,” the Senator added.
Lummis has been a long-time supporter of bitcoin — reportedly buying her first tokens in 2013 — and has been at the forefront of attempts to pass crypto-specific legislation. Crypto has become an election issue in particular this year after former President Donald Trump endorsed the industry.
According to Lummis, the legislation would have the U.S. Treasury self-custody the bitcoins across “a variety of geographic locations.” The government would hold those coins for at least 20 years unless the tokens are sold to “reduce the debt,” Lummis said.
“We know from modeling the numbers and past experience with bitcoin, that it is capable of being an absolute game changer for the mess the United States has gotten itself into with its debt and its deficits,” Senator Lummis said.
When asked, Lummis said the U.S. Treasury should also take custody of the estimated 210,000 BTC the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies possess, largely accumulated through criminal seizures.
“We have a strategic oil reserve. We hold gold. So the idea of a strategic reserve used specifically to reduce the debt solves so many problems that it almost seems inherently obvious, but it’s nevertheless a big step,” Sen. Lummis said.
This is not the first time Sen. Lummis has suggested the U.S. government buy bitcoin. In 2022, she floated the idea of diversifying the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet with bitcoin. Lummis herself owns upwards of $100,000 worth of BTC, as of her latest mandated filings.
Although Lummis said she is optimistic that some crypto-specific legislation could pass this year — like the stablecoin bill she co-wrote with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand — she does not think the bitcoin treasury reserve bill will be seriously considered until after the upcoming elections.
“This is not something that I see passing this year, but rather it was filed as a piece of legislation that people can review this year, drafted in-house by my staff,” Lummis said.
Likewise, Sen. Lummis said she has been in conversations regarding Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow’s crypto bill, which is still being drafted. While optimistic it could help plug holes in the current regulatory situation, she said “We’re running out of legislative days before the election.”
Lummis, a lifelong Republican and Trump supporter said that the 45th president has essentially opened the floodgates to the U.S. embracing crypto.
“President Trump was instrumental in drafting the language in the Republican Party platform. It includes opposing a central bank digital currency in the United States. It’s pro bitcoin mining, and he wants to keep America as the mothership for digital assets,” she said.