F2Pool Chief Commands SpaceX Mars Mission as ARMA Locks US BTC for 20 Years

Bitcoin News

Chun Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese-Kittitian co-founder of mining giant F2Pool, has been tapped as Mission Commander for SpaceX's first crewed interplanetary voyage to Mars. Wang's pool currently controls roughly 11.3% of the global Bitcoin network hashrate, and his personal BTC holdings are estimated to exceed $300 million. The appointment, announced during a Starship V3 livestream, places one of the most influential figures in proof-of-work mining at the helm of Elon Musk's most ambitious effort to establish a multi-planetary civilization. Wang will reportedly step back from his day-to-day mining duties for the two-year mission, marking an unprecedented intersection between cryptocurrency wealth and human space exploration.

Before the Martian flyby, Wang will participate in SpaceX's first commercial human spaceflight around the Moon, joining veterans Dennis and Akiko Tito on a circumlunar trajectory that will pass roughly 125 miles from the lunar surface. The mining magnate is no novice in orbit. Last year he funded and commanded Fram2, a three-day polar-orbit mission aboard Crew Dragon during which he and three crewmates became the first humans to fly directly over Earth's poles. Wang framed his appetite for exploration in characteristically crypto terms during a Bitcoin 2025 appearance, saying he treats space the same way he treats blockchain data: "Don't trust, verify."

Target launch windows are driving preparations for a 2026 departure, with the crew expected to spend two consecutive years in deep space across a multi-phase itinerary that includes a high-altitude Mars fly-by and a complex return trajectory back to Earth. To absorb the mechanical and thermodynamic punishment of a 24-month coast, SpaceX is debuting its Starship V3 architecture, which integrates vacuum-jacketed header feed lines, high-voltage cryogenic recirculation systems, and sixty custom avionics units engineered to isolate faults across up to 9 megawatts of peak power. The crew will also capture the first human X-ray imagery in microgravity, generating diagnostic data considered essential to any permanent off-world settlement effort.

Back on Earth, bipartisan lawmakers escalated efforts to formalize the federal government's Bitcoin position. Representatives Nick Begich of Alaska and Jared Golden of Maine introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, or ARMA, which would codify President Donald Trump's prior executive order and place all government-held bitcoin into a dedicated Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. A separate Digital Asset Stockpile would house non-bitcoin tokens, with both pools administered by the Treasury. The legislation marks the first concrete legislative scaffolding for an idea that has, until now, depended on executive guidance, and it arrives as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent continues to direct that all seized crypto be retained rather than auctioned.

The most striking provision is ARMA's hard twenty-year lockup. Once bitcoin enters the reserve, the bill bars Treasury from "selling, swapping, auctioning, encumbering, or otherwise disposing" of the assets for two full decades, regardless of price action or fiscal pressure. After the lockup expires, the Treasury secretary could recommend offloading no more than 10% of the reserve's holdings in any two-year window, embedding a slow drip rather than discretionary liquidation. Lawmakers framed the constraint as a deliberate reversal of historical policy, with Representative Mike Rulli describing the structure as a "long-term approach" designed to keep the United States from selling off strategic digital assets that future generations may rely on.

Crucially, ARMA quietly drops the one-million-bitcoin acquisition target that anchored earlier BITCOIN Act drafts. Rather than committing to a fixed purchase volume, the new bill directs Treasury and Commerce to study whether additional bitcoin could be acquired through "budget-neutral" channels, including conversions of non-bitcoin assets, gold certificate revaluations, forfeiture proceedings, tariff revenues, and state-level partnerships. Federal agencies would have sixty days post-enactment to deliver a full accounting of every digital asset under their control, while the cold-storage reserve itself would face quarterly public proof-of-reserve disclosures and recurring third-party audits.

Spot bitcoin trades near $75,870, down 2.42% on the session, with the broader candlestick structure printing sideways. Immediate support sits at $76,011 — currently being tested — followed by deeper bids at $74,334 and $72,632. Resistance is layered at $77,618, $78,891, and $80,531, and reclaiming the first ceiling is the minimum requirement to neutralize the bearish MACD signal. RSI at 44.67 reflects mild seller pressure without confirming oversold capitulation. Bulls need a decisive close back above $77,618 to invalidate the local downtrend; a sustained break of $74,334 would expose $72,632 and shift control to sellers.