Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said on Wednesday that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) reserve legislation could advance after lawmakers address major provisions of the CLARITY Act.

Hagerty Says Timeline Is Uncertain

In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Hagerty said that while cryptocurrency market-structure legislation is still the top priority, he sees the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as one piece of a larger policy continuum.

"The timeline is a little bit hard for me to say right now because my priorities would be the CLARITY Act and the components of that first, but I think this [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve] is something that could come very soon after that," the cryptocurrency-friendly lawmaker said.

President Donald Trump signed the executive order in March 2025, funding the reserve entirely with Bitcoin already held through criminal and civil asset forfeiture. It directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to find budget-neutral ways to acquire more BTC.

Hagerty said the decision demonstrated support for a "new innovative industry." He credited Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) for working on related legislation that proposes the acquisition of 1 million BTC over five years.

A Bill For America's Huge BTC Stash

Hagerty's remarks come more than a month after the House Financial Services Committee advanced the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill. This marked the first federal committee approval of any legislation authorizing a secure storage facility for the U.S. government's BTC holdings.

The bill requires the government to retain all Bitcoin for 20 years, prohibiting any sale, swap, auction, or pledge of the holdings.

The U.S. government holds 306,795 BTC, worth approximately $24.54 billion, according to on-chain analytics firm Arkham, making it the largest known sovereign holder of the apex cryptocurrency.

Price Action: As of this writing, BTC is down 1.60% in the last 24 hours to $80,044, according to market data.