- US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile.
- The digital asset stockpile will consist of other Treasury-owned digital assets besides bitcoin gotten through forfeiture proceedings.
President Donald Trump on Thursday, signed an Executive Order to establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. The Order authorizes the use of Treasury-owned assets that were collected through forfeitures for the digital asset stash.
Treasury Assets To Fund US Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Trump’s new EO underscores his vision to make the US the global leader in digital assets and innovation. Bitcoin now checks off as a reserve asset primarily funded by Bitcoin obtained from the Treasury Department’s criminal or “civil asset forfeiture proceedings” while other federal agencies “evaluate their legal authority” to remit their bitcoin to the Reserve.
As is typical of reserves, the Order states that the US “will not sell” bitcoin in the SBR, however, there was no indication of a specific holding duration. In addition, aside from seized Bitcoin, the EO makes provision for the purchase of more bitcoin by state agencies at no costs to American citizens.
“The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies impose no incremental costs on American taxpayers,” said the Order.
Furthermore, the Treasury Department’s holdings of other forfeited assets besides Bitcoin will furnish the Digital Asset Stockpile. However, unlike the SBR, the government “will not acquire any additional assets…beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings.”
Federal agencies have therefore been mandated to report their digital asset holdings to the Treasury Secretary and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to facilitate strategic management of digital assets under US custody.
A US SBR will harness the “digital gold” properties of Bitcoin—its scarcity, with only 21 million units in existence—giving the US an edge as one of the first nations to hold it as a reserve asset. It also fine-tunes the management and administration of the asset in a way that profits the US economy.
What’s Next? Industry Leaders Weigh In
Within less than two months in office, President Trump is finally making the US the “crypto capital of the world” through precise digital asset policy. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong describes the SBR Executive Order as an “incredible execution from the Trump administration and a historic moment for Bitcoin and crypto” and expects many of the G20 nations to “follow America’s leadership.”
Similarly, pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis has lauded the President’s efforts in fulfilling his promise to lead the most pro-crypto administration in US history. “By embracing Bitcoin as a strategic asset,” said Lummis, President Trump has charted a path to addressing our national debt and securing America’s position as the world leader in financial innovation.”
Lummis and her cohorts will now push for the passage of the Bitcoin Act into law as she hints at something big coming up next week. According to her, the mandate from the President is to “make the strategic reserve outlast his presidency”, which necessitates legislation.
