What strict changes will the purchase plan have in the 2025 version of the US Bitcoin Act compared to the 2024 version?

The 2025 version of the Bitcoin Act sets a stricter plan to purchase 200,000 bitcoins per year, and clearly stipulates that the annual purchase amount is 200,000, rather than the "maximum" of 200,000 in the 2024 version. This clear quantitative regulation makes the purchase plan more certain and stable, avoids the uncertainty caused by the "most" expression, and also gives the market a clearer expectation of the US government's annual Bitcoin purchase volume.

The new version also reinforces the holding requirements, removing the exception provisions in the previous version regarding the repayment of federal debt instruments. In the 2024 edition, there are exceptions to repaying federal debt instruments, which may lead to higher flexibility in holding Bitcoin. The cancellation of the exception in the 2025 edition means that the Bitcoin purchased by the US government will be held more strictly for a long time, reducing the possibility of Bitcoin being sold in advance due to factors such as debt repayment.

The bill adds new terms to coordinate Bitcoin purchases with the Exchange Rate Stability Fund (ESF), which is not mentioned in the 2024 version. As the U.S. Treasury Department's reserve fund, ESF has approximately $39 billion in assets. The administrative department’s Bitcoin acquisition may use the fund. The new terms allow Bitcoin purchases to coordinate with the ESF, which will make the purchase process more standardized and provide a clearer channel for the source of purchase funds. Compared with the 2024 edition, a layer of regulations and constraints on the use of funds will be added.

In terms of gold revaluation, the new version clearly stipulates that the proceeds from revaluation of the Federal Reserve gold are applied to the purchase of Bitcoin, and the 2024 version only includes these funds in general funds. The 2024 edition of funds are included in general funds and have relatively wide uses. The 2025 edition directly specifies gold revaluation income for Bitcoin purchase, which makes the source of Bitcoin purchase funds more targeted, and also highlights the increase in the importance of Bitcoin purchase, which strengthens the Bitcoin purchase plan from the fund allocation link.

The 2025 Bitcoin Act stipulates that funds for purchasing plans are drawn from existing funds in the Federal Reserve and Treasury accounts, and no additional taxes are required for U.S. taxpayers. This regulation is the same as the 2024 edition, which ensures the stability of the purchase plan in terms of financial sources, will not cause more controversy due to the increase in taxpayer burden, and will also ensure that the purchase plan can continue to be promoted within the existing fiscal framework.

According to the proposal design, between 2025 and 2029, the United States will remit $6 billion from the Reserve Bank each year to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, with part of the funds coming from the Fed's net income. This annual fixed amount of funds, under the 2025 edition of the bill, is matched with the stricter annual purchase plan of 200,000 Bitcoins, further highlighting the stability and predictability of the purchase plan. The 2024 edition is not so close in the correspondence between the allocation of funds and the purchase quantity.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary is responsible for coordinating the acquisition and maintenance of new Bitcoins under the 2025 version of the bill. All newly purchased Bitcoins will have to be held for 20 years before they can be sold, and the Treasury Secretary’s reserve ratio of digital currency sold for any two consecutive years shall not exceed 10%. Compared with the 2024 edition, restrictions on holding time and sales ratio are stricter, preventing the government from selling Bitcoin at will, maintaining the long-term stability of Bitcoin’s strategic reserves.

The 2025 edition of the bill allows the U.S. government to hold additional Bitcoin through legal means, including civil or criminal forfeiture, donation or federal agency transfer. While enriching the source of Bitcoin, this supplement also echoes stricter purchasing plans, ensuring the stable growth of the US government's Bitcoin reserves from multiple channels, while the 2024 edition does not explicitly mention these legal means of obtaining Bitcoin.

The new bill introduces a formal evaluation process for Bitcoin fork assets and empty investment products. The original bill requires that all forked assets must be deposited in the national Bitcoin reserve for at least five years and cannot be sold or disposed of without legal authorization. The revised bill allows the Finance Minister to evaluate and retain the most valuable fork assets based on market value after the mandatory holding period is over, while ensuring that the reserves continue to hold "dominant assets". This provision is more flexible and scientific in terms of asset processing, and can better maintain the value of Bitcoin’s strategic reserves compared with the 2024 edition.

In terms of reserve scale, although the 2025 version of the bill maintains the total target of purchasing 1 million Bitcoins within five years, the growth path of reserve scale is clearer and more stable through stricter annual purchase plans and other regulations. In contrast, the 2024 edition lacks the strictness of the purchase plan, and the protection of the growth of reserve scale is relatively weak.

In terms of the custody mechanism, although both the 2025 and 2024 versions face disputes about the federal government's own cold wallet or entrusted to compliant institutions such as Coinbase, the strict changes in the overall purchase plan of the 2025 version will prompt the custody mechanism to pay more attention to stability and security during the implementation process to match the adjustments of the purchase plan.

Compared with the 2024 edition of the Bitcoin Act, the 2025 edition has made strict changes in the purchase plan from many aspects such as quantity regulations, holding requirements, fund coordination and source, and asset processing, making the US government's purchase and reserve plan more standardized, stable and sustainable.