- Brazil lawmakers reintroduce RESBit bill to build a strategic bitcoin reserve, targeting gradual accumulation of 1,000,000 BTC over five years
- Proposal includes accepting federal taxes in bitcoin, banning sales of seized coins, and requiring transparent reporting of national holdings
Brazil is again considering a plan to place Bitcoin at the center of its national reserve strategy through a proposed Strategic Sovereign Bitcoin Reserve. Lawmakers have brought back a bill that would create RESBit, a government-managed reserve intended to accumulate a vast Bitcoin position over several years. The initiative, led by Federal Deputy Luiz Gastão (PSD/CE), sets out rules for acquisition, custody, transparency, and limited use of Bitcoin-linked financial instruments, and would move Brazil into a small but growing group of countries treating the asset as part of sovereign reserves.
Brazil’s RESBit proposal and its core provisions
The draft legislation envisions RESBit as a long-term vehicle for Bitcoin accumulation and integration into Brazil’s financial planning. At its center is a target to gradually build holdings to at least 1,000,000 BTC within a five-year window. The accumulation is designed to be progressive rather than immediate, suggesting a phased approach that spreads purchases over time. This timeframe and quantity, if fully carried out, would place Brazil among the largest official holders of Bitcoin globally, with potential implications for both domestic policy and the international perception of its reserves.
Beyond the accumulation goal, the bill sets rules for how Bitcoin already in the hands of the state must be treated. It explicitly blocks the sale of coins seized by Brazilian judicial authorities, effectively directing that any such assets remain in public ownership rather than being liquidated. This provision would turn confiscated Bitcoin into a permanent component of the national reserve instead of a source of short-term budget relief through sales.
The proposal also outlines how Bitcoin could intersect with Brazil’s tax system and public sector operations. It allows federal taxes to be paid in Bitcoin, bringing the cryptocurrency into direct interaction with the national treasury. In parallel, the bill includes incentives aimed at encouraging public companies to participate in Bitcoin mining and storage. Although it does not prescribe specific forms of support, it signals an intention to involve state-linked enterprises in both securing the network and maintaining strategic holdings.
Transparency, storage, and use of Bitcoin-linked instruments in Brazil
A key part of the RESBit blueprint is its focus on transparency and security. The bill calls for detailed public reporting of the reserve’s Bitcoin balance, with information to be made accessible through internet-based platforms. This is intended to allow citizens and other observers to monitor the size and status of the holdings, giving the public a direct view into how the reserve evolves over time. The requirement for online disclosure also implies frequent updates rather than infrequent or opaque reporting.
On the custody side, the text emphasizes secure methods consistent with international practices for digital asset storage. It references cold wallets, multisignature wallets, and other widely recognized mechanisms as tools for protecting the reserve. Cold wallets, which are not connected to the internet, and multisignature setups, which require multiple approvals to move funds, are highlighted as core elements of the security strategy. These measures aim to reduce theft and operational risk for a reserve of the scale envisioned.
In addition to holding Bitcoin directly, the proposal permits RESBit to temporarily own spot exchange-traded funds backed by Bitcoin. This option is limited to urgent and narrowly defined circumstances, and the use of such ETFs is framed as a supplementary tool rather than a primary method for maintaining exposure. The text does not expand on what would qualify as urgent, but it clearly reserves this mechanism for exceptional situations where direct holding may be impractical in the short term.
If lawmakers approve the bill, Brazil would move into a small circle of jurisdictions with explicit national-level Bitcoin reserves. Given the size of the planned accumulation, the country could surpass existing government or central bank positions attributed to major economies such as the United States and China, at least in absolute Bitcoin terms. That shift would align Brazil with a broader international trend of governments examining or adopting Bitcoin as part of their reserve mix.
How Brazil fits into the global move toward sovereign Bitcoin reserves
Brazil’s RESBit concept emerges within a wider set of experiments by countries and jurisdictions seeking to formalize Bitcoin holdings. El Salvador remains the most cited example, having declared itself the first nation with a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Under President Nayib Bukele, the Central American state has reported ownership of more than 7,560 Bitcoin and has continued periodic purchases even after adjusting some aspects of its Bitcoin policy under agreements with the International Monetary Fund. Authorities there say the strategy supports long-term financial sovereignty and diversification of reserves, and the National Bitcoin Office now disperses holdings across multiple addresses to increase both security and openness.
The Salvadoran experiment has influenced policymakers far beyond Central America. In the United States, the BITCOIN Act of 2025 laid out the idea of a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve. While that initiative has not transformed U.S. reserves in the way El Salvador’s program has, it showed that the concept of a national Bitcoin treasury was gaining attention at the federal level. At the same time, individual U.S. states such as New Hampshire and Arizona have passed or proposed measures allowing a slice of public funds to be allocated to digital assets, signaling subnational interest in similar approaches.
The federal executive branch in the U.S. has also touched on Bitcoin reserves through President Trump’s March 2025 order. That directive instructed federal agencies to look into accumulating Bitcoin from seized assets without relying on new taxpayer funding. The focus on using confiscated coins echoes, in a different jurisdiction, Brazil’s proposed rule that seized Bitcoin should not be sold off, although the practical and legal structures differ between the two countries.
In Europe, several developments point to parallel thinking about Bitcoin in reserve management. The Czech National Bank is identified as having a related allocation in Bitcoin, while Switzerland is witnessing a citizen-driven effort to embed Bitcoin holdings in its constitution, which would give the asset a formal place in the country’s monetary framework if adopted. These European moves illustrate how both central banks and civic initiatives are weighing formalized Bitcoin exposure at the sovereign level.
Other states are examining similar frameworks. Hong Kong, Ukraine, and Pakistan are all described as exploring options for national Bitcoin reserves. Pakistan, in particular, has gone further rhetorically by pledging that any future holdings will not be sold. Such a stance treats Bitcoin as a long-term strategic asset rather than a trading position, mirroring, in principle, elements of Brazil’s proposed restrictions on selling seized coins and its goal of sustained accumulation.
Against this backdrop, Brazil’s RESBit plan would not be an isolated experiment but part of a broader international pattern in which governments test different models for incorporating Bitcoin into reserves. What distinguishes Brazil’s approach is the scale of the proposed 1,000,000 BTC target, the integration with tax collection, and the detailed attention to public transparency and custody techniques in the legal text.
Conclusion
The reintroduced RESBit bill positions Brazil at the center of an ongoing global conversation about Bitcoin’s role in national reserves. With a proposal to acquire at least 1,000,000 BTC over five years, protect seized coins from liquidation, accept Bitcoin for federal tax payments, and encourage public companies to engage in mining and storage, the legislation sketches an extensive framework for state-level involvement with the asset. Provisions for public disclosure of holdings, secure storage methods, and limited reliance on spot Bitcoin ETFs add operational detail to the vision. If enacted, Brazil would join and potentially outsize existing national Bitcoin holders, aligning itself with initiatives in El Salvador, the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia that are testing how digital assets fit into sovereign financial strategies.
Disclaimer
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