Philippines proposes 10,000 BTC strategic reserve with 20-year lockup

A Philippines lawmaker has proposed a new bill to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, which would accumulate a total of 10,000 BTC.

House Bill 421 , introduced by Congressman Miguel Luis Villafuerte, proposes that the country's central bank — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — buy 2,000 bitcoin annually for five years and hold the assets in a cold storage for a minimum of 20 years.

"The increasing significance of BTC in ensuring financial and economic prowess across continents makes it imperative for the country to take significant legislative measures," the lawmaker wrote.

The bill stipulates that during the holding period, the bitcoin reserve must not be sold or swapped for any purposes other than paying off outstanding government debt. Once the holding period ends, the bill mandates that the central bank governor may not sell more than 10% of the assets over any two-year period.

If enacted, the bill would add the Philippines to a list of countries that have embraced bitcoin as a strategic national asset, including El Salvador and Bhutan . The United States and China are among the largest sovereign holders of bitcoin, with their reserves primarily consisting of confiscated assets.

According to Bitbo data , governments around the world hold a total of 517,296 BTC, representing around 2.46% of bitcoin's total 21 million supply.