US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the country. White House Crypto Czar, David Sacks announced the development through his X handle in the early hours of Friday, March 7. He stated that the reserve will be capitalised with Bitcoin tokens that were forfeited as part of criminal or civil proceedings. The order also entails the accumulation of a digital asset stockpile comprised of altcoins that have been seized by the federal agencies as part of legal investigations.
Sacks estimated that the US government presently holds around 200,000 Bitcoin tokens. With BTC presently trading at $87,726 (roughly Rs. 76.4 lakh), 200,000 tokens amount to over $17.6 billion (roughly Rs. 1,53,161 crore). President Trump has ordered a complete audit of the Federal government’s digital asset holdings.
Essentially, Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve and crypto stockpile will be funded from crypto assets confiscated during federal investigations instead of fresh tokens purchased using taxpayers’ money.
“The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorised to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers. The government will also not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks wrote in his tweet.
In an official statement, the White House referred to Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’ and said the curation of these crypto reserves will give them proper oversight and protect them from being sold off pre-maturely.
Sacks also shared pictures of the President signing the executive order at the Oval Office, calling it a historic moment.
This announcement comes just days before the White House hosts the US’s first-ever Crypto Summit on Friday, March 7. Several prominent figures from the crypto industry have confirmed their invitations to the event, which aims to bring industry leaders together with policymakers and regulators.
Ahead of the summit, many in the crypto community have praised the establishment of these reserves. These include MicroStrategy founder Micheal Saylor and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. In his tweet, Armstrong advised the G20 nations like India, Germany, France, and Canada to ‘follow America’s leadership’.
This executive order aligns with Trump’s pledge to make the US the global leader in cryptocurrency. During his election campaign last year, he vowed to establish a Bitcoin reserve for the nation. Under his administration, the US SEC has also launched a Crypto Task Force to develop a regulatory framework that fosters industry growth while protecting investors from market risks.
