**New US Bill Revalues Fed Gold to Buy Bitcoin

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has put forward an innovative plan to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, partly financed by revaluing the Federal Reserve's gold certificates, as reported by CoinDesk. The draft legislation proposes a 'Bitcoin Purchase Program' aimed at acquiring up to 200,000 BTC annually over five years, totaling 1 million BTC.

Senator Lummis, a known Bitcoin advocate from Wyoming, unveiled this proposal at the Bitcoin Nashville conference. The plan involves setting up a decentralized network of secure Bitcoin storage facilities across the U.S., chosen based on geographic diversity, security, and accessibility.

The draft bill, named the 'Bitcoin Act of 2024,' designates the Treasury Secretary to oversee the Bitcoin Purchase Program. The acquired Bitcoin would be held for a minimum of 20 years and could only be sold to pay off federal debt, with a restriction allowing no more than 10% of the assets to be sold within any two-year period.

Revaluing Fed Gold

Funding for the Bitcoin purchases is outlined to come from multiple sources. The plan allocates $6 billion from the Federal Reserve's net earnings remitted to the Treasury from fiscal years 2025 through 2029. It also proposes reducing the discretionary surplus funds of Federal Reserve banks to $2.4 billion from the current $6.825 billion. Additionally, it involves revaluing the Federal Reserve banks' gold certificates to their fair market value.

Within six months of the bill's enactment, Federal Reserve banks would be required to tender all outstanding gold certificates to the Treasury Secretary. New gold certificates, reflecting the fair market value of the gold, would then be issued. The Federal Reserve banks would remit the cash value difference to the Treasury Secretary.

As of July 24, the Federal Reserve banks held "gold stock" valued at $11 billion, based on the official U.S. book value of $42.22 per troy ounce, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This revaluation would adjust the certificates to reflect the current market value of gold, providing additional funds for the Bitcoin reserve initiative.

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