Donald Trump Establishes US Bitcoin Reserve: Strategic Move to Hold Seized Crypto Assets

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What’s in Today’s Article?

Former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile.
The Bitcoin reserve will be funded with BTC forfeited in criminal or civil asset seizures, providing the U.S. with a strategic advantage. Other agencies will assess their ability to contribute seized Bitcoin.
Similarly, the Digital Asset Stockpile will include other forfeited digital assets.
Despite the move, Bitcoin’s price dropped over 4% at the time.

The White House fact sheet highlights that no clear policy exists for managing seized digital assets, leading to accountability issues and missed opportunities for centralization and security.

It is estimated that the U.S. government owns around 200,000 BTC, but a full audit has never been conducted.
The executive order mandates a complete accounting of federal digital asset holdings.

The U.S. will not sell Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve but will hold it as a store of value.
The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are tasked with developing budget-neutral strategies to acquire more Bitcoin without imposing costs on taxpayers.

With Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins, the fact sheet underscores the importance of early adoption for strategic positioning in the global financial system.
Past premature sales of Bitcoin have cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion.

Apart from Bitcoin, the US Digital Asset Stockpile will include Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano, as mentioned by President Trump earlier.

The U.S. government will not actively acquire additional digital assets for the stockpile.
Instead, it will consist only of assets obtained through forfeiture proceedings, similar to the Bitcoin reserve.

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to develop strategies for responsible stewardship, which may include selling assets from the stockpile.
All government agencies must report their digital asset holdings to the Secretary of the Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.

The cryptocurrency market has surged following Trump’s election victory, driven by expectations that his administration will adopt a pro-crypto stance.

Trump’s potential collaboration with Elon Musk, a known crypto advocate, has further strengthened investor confidence in Bitcoin and other digital assets, despite concerns about conflicts of interest.

Trump has chosen Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a figure widely regarded as a crypto-friendly regulator.
The SEC has dropped multiple investigations and lawsuits against cryptocurrency firms over alleged securities violations.