- House Bill 421 proposes a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve managed by the central bank.
- The draft targets up to 10,000 BTC over five years with a 20-year minimum hold.
Philippine lawmakers have introduced House Bill 421 to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The measure would formalize bitcoin as a component of the country’s reserve management framework and set operational rules for custody, disclosure, and oversight.
Bill directs BSP to purchase up to 10,000 BTC over five years
The proposal mandates the BSP Governor to run a Bitcoin Purchase Program that acquires no more than 2,000 bitcoin per year across a five year window. Purchases must be executed transparently and strategically in order to minimize market disruption.
The acquired bitcoin would be held in trust for the Republic and custodied in a decentralized network of cold storage facilities distributed across multiple Philippine locations to reduce single point of failure risks.
The Monetary Board would supervise the reserve and the Governor would publish an annual public report on the programme’s status starting one year after enactment.
The text defines key terms for digital asset operations including cold storage, forks, and airdrops. It instructs the BSP to retain any forked or airdropped assets attributable to the reserve and to prohibit the disposal of such assets for five years after the fork or airdrop unless authorized by law.
The Governor is directed to collaborate with defense, finance, technology, and securities authorities as well as industry experts when formulating implementing rules, with an emphasis on internationally accepted security standards.
Draft requires 20-year hold, proof-of-reserve disclosures and audits
All bitcoin accumulated through the programme would be subject to a minimum holding period of 20 years. During that period the coins could not be sold, swapped, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of for any purpose other than retiring outstanding government debt instruments.
One year ahead of the lockup’s expiry, the Governor would submit recommendations to Congress on whether to continue holding or to begin a gradual release, with sales capped at no more than 10 percent of the reserve in any two year period.
The bill establishes a quarterly proof-of-reserve system that requires public cryptographic attestations of total holdings and demonstrated key control. It also requires the designation of an independent third-party auditor with expertise in cryptographic attestations.
A protection of private property rights clause clarifies that the measure does not authorize seizure of lawful private bitcoin holdings and does not restrict individuals or organizations from purchasing or transferring bitcoin in accordance with law.
Implementation rules would be issued within 60 days of the law’s effectivity. Initial funding would come from the BSP and other concerned agencies, with subsequent amounts to be proposed through the General Appropriations Act.
The bill positions bitcoin within the Philippines’ reserve toolkit while setting out governance, custody, and transparency requirements intended to align with central banking practice.
At the time of press, Bitcoin is trading at $115,963.00, marking a precise gain of $2,820.00, or +2.492%, versus the previous day’s closing price.
