Bitcoin Slides to $76K as Trump Media Sends $204M BTC to Exchange, ARMA Bill Filed

Bitcoin News

A freshman Republican lawmaker from Tennessee has emerged as one of the loudest voices behind a new legislative push to make the federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve a permanent feature of U.S. policy. Representative Matt Van Epps, who represents Nashville's 7th District, is co-leading the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, known as ARMA, alongside Alaska Republican Nick Begich. The proposal would codify President Trump's March 2025 executive order establishing the reserve, giving it statutory force that future administrations could not unilaterally undo. Van Epps framed the bill as a direct extension of Nashville's emerging status as a leading hub for the broader digital asset community.

Bitcoin wallets attributed to Trump Media & Technology Group transferred roughly 2,650 BTC — worth approximately $204 million — to addresses tagged as belonging to a major centralized exchange late Thursday. Blockchain analytics flagged the movement as the firm's largest outbound transfer in months, dwarfing an earlier shift of just 3.2 BTC executed roughly four months ago. Movement of substantial holdings onto exchange wallets is frequently a precursor to sale, though the company has not publicly disclosed its intent. Remaining wallets linked to the firm still hold roughly $533 million worth of BTC at current prices, on-chain data indicates.

Under ARMA's framework, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would sit inside the Treasury Department and hold BTC seized through federal forfeitures and civil penalties — meaning the reserve would be capitalized without spending taxpayer dollars on open-market purchases. Critically, the bill restricts how any future sale of reserve coins could be deployed: proceeds would be earmarked exclusively for paying down the national debt, currently sitting near $39 trillion. Other federal programs would be barred from drawing on the stockpile. That single-purpose design distinguishes ARMA from earlier reserve proposals that left wider discretion to the Treasury or the sitting executive.

The latest outbound flow arrives against a difficult financial backdrop for Trump Media. The publicly traded firm, which trades under the ticker DJT, originally accumulated roughly $2 billion in BTC and Bitcoin-linked securities last year as part of what its leadership described as a hedge against financial-institution discrimination. The company posted a net loss of approximately $406 million in the first quarter of 2026, attributing the bulk of that figure to non-cash unrealized losses on digital asset positions and pledged collateral. The original accumulation occurred when Bitcoin traded near $119,000, leaving the firm materially underwater on the cost basis of its treasury.

ARMA also incorporates language designed to shield private-key sovereignty, affirming that the federal government cannot interfere with an individual's right to own, transfer, or self-custody digital assets. Self-custody — typically achieved through a cold wallet or hardware device — has emerged as a politically charged issue in Washington over the past two legislative cycles, with libertarian-leaning members pushing for explicit statutory protection. The provision reflects a growing consensus inside the pro-Bitcoin caucus that property rights cannot be left to shifting regulatory interpretation. Van Epps has tied the language to constituent concerns voiced at the annual Bitcoin conference, scheduled to return to Nashville in 2027.

Shares of Trump Media added roughly 1% in Friday trading to change hands near $8.02, but the stock remains down more than 39% year-to-date and approximately 70% off its 52-week high near $27. Earlier in the week, the firm scrapped its plan to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF alongside a joint Bitcoin/Ethereum product, a reversal of an initiative that had been positioned as a centerpiece of its digital-asset strategy. The cancellation removed one of the more visible corporate-issuer ETF candidates from this year's pipeline and refocused attention on the firm's direct BTC holdings as the primary expression of its crypto thesis.

Spot pricing sits at $76,296, down 1.6% on the session and consolidating just above immediate support at $76,011. A clean break of that line opens the door to $74,334 and ultimately $72,632 as the next defended zones, while resistance stacks at $77,618, $78,891, and $80,531. RSI at 44.67 sits below the midline but has not entered oversold territory, and the MACD signal remains bearish on the daily structure. The constructive path requires a reclaim of $77,618 on rising volume; failure to defend $76,011 would invalidate the sideways thesis and tilt momentum decisively toward the lower support shelf.