President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Crypto czar David Sacks celebrated the move via a post on X.
“The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime,” he wrote. “It is estimated that the U.S. government owns about 200,000 bitcoin; however, there has never been a complete audit. The E.O. directs a full accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings. The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called ‘digital gold.’”
Sacks, a Silicon Valley and pro-crypto veteran who will be shaping future policy around digital assets, reiterated his criticism of prior administrations for what he deemed as dropping the ball on bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value.
“Premature sales of bitcoin have already cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion in lost value. Now the federal government will have a strategy to maximize the value of its holdings,” he also noted.
Sacks also outlined how other digital currencies may be used.
“IN ADDITION, the Executive Order establishes a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, consisting of digital assets other than bitcoin forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings,” he wrote.
The move comes on the eve of a Friday roundtable with members of the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets in what is being billed as a “Digital Asset Summit.”
Attendees at Friday’s meeting include the following crypto leaders, while more may be added:
- Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, founders of Gemini
- Vlad Tenev, Robinhood CEO
- Arjun Sethi, Kraken CEO
- Michael Saylor, founder and executive chair of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)
- Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase
- Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of ChainLink
- Kyle Samani, managing partner at MultiCoin Capital
- Zach Witkoff, co-founder of Trump-backed World Liberty Financial
- JP Richardson, CEO of Exodus
- Matt Huang, co-founder of Paradigm
- David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine
Last Sunday, ahead of the meeting, Trump advanced his plans for a strategic reserve for cryptocurrencies, posting on Truth Social:
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA. I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!.”
Here’s a real-time pricing snapshot of popular cryptocurrencies.
TRUMP’S CRYPTO CZAR DECRIES GOVERNMENT’S LACK OF BITCOIN ‘LONG-TERM STRATEGY’
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Solana
XRP
Cardano
FOX Business’ Eleanor Terrett contributed to this report.
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