Published: Jan 10, 2026 at 18:24
A high-stakes legislative battle is unfolding in Washington and Tallahassee this week as the United States moves closer to treating Bitcoin as a legitimate sovereign reserve asset.
On January 10, 2026, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs confirmed a planned markup for January 15 regarding a landmark crypto market structure bill.
The “bank-like” debate
Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) has introduced language to allow rewards on transactions using dollar-pegged stablecoins while strictly barring interest on idle tokens. This move aims to prevent “shadow banking” while integrating stablecoins into the regulated payment system.
Florida’s SB 1038
On the state level, Florida Senator Joe Gruters officially registered Senate Bill 1038 on January 7. The bill seeks to create a Florida Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve. Critically, it restricts the reserve to assets with a 24-month average market cap above $500 billion, effectively making Bitcoin the only eligible asset for the state’s balance sheet.
Federal buy-in
ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood noted on January 9 that the U.S. federal government may soon transition from merely holding confiscated Bitcoin to actively purchasing it. This follows President Trump’s earlier executive order treating seized BTC as a strategic national asset.
“The original intent was to own 1 million bitcoins… I actually think they will start buying,” Wood stated, highlighting the shift toward budget-neutral acquisition strategies.
This legislative surge signals that 2026 will be the year digital assets are finally woven into the fabric of American fiscal policy, moving beyond “regulation by enforcement” into “regulation by institutionalization.”