Philippine bill charts path to strategic reserve with 10,000 Bitcoin

The bill would require the central bank to buy 2,000 Bitcoin annually over five years and hold the assets for at least two decades.

The Congress of the Philippines is weighing a proposal that could see the country’s central bank establish a strategic reserve of 10,000 Bitcoin, positioning the country among the first in Southeast Asia to adopt Bitcoin as a strategic asset. 

A House of Representatives bill filed by Camarines Sur Representative Migz Villafuerte in June made headlines on Thursday, as it aims to mandate the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, to purchase 2,000 Bitcoin (BTC) annually over a five-year period. 

The bill, called the “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act,” aims to mandate the BSP to buy 10,000 Bitcoin worth $1.1 billion at current market prices. The bill states that the asset would be locked in a trust for at least 20 years. This would mean that the coins could not be sold, swapped or disposed of, except for when retiring government debt. 

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