Now that the US government has taken official action to create this long-awaited bitcoin strategic reserve, what next? Is there a separate reserve for crypto-assets?
You’re right, but only in a way.
As people begin to read the fine print, they have mixed reactions. You might know some of the details already:
Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. It’s no coincidence that the acronym of Blockworks’ next event is also used for this reserve!
SBR will be capitalised with BTC that is forfeited by the Treasury Department through criminal/civil actions. This reserve will not be sold by the US.
The plan is not in place yet to purchase additional BTC. This has left some people disappointed. However, the EO notes that the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce — currently Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick — can “develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin.” The ones which won’t be a burden to the tax payers are in essence those.
The DAS would cover digital assets other than bitcoins (none of which are specifically listed in the EO) that were also collected by forfeiture. This stockpile would be a one-time purchase by the government.
A bitcoin reserve announcement was thought by many to be the catalyst that would send BTC to new highs. This was not immediately apparent.
Compass Point analysts called reserve and stockpile formation “a nonevent.” According to them, based on the price movement around the unveiling, it appears that the market is in agreement with their view.
Bitcoin was trading around $88,200 at 2:10 pm ET — down nearly 2% from 24 hours prior.
“Since these accounts are created by an EO, they can be undone by a future EO,” Ed Groshans of Compass Point, Joe Flynn, and Ed Engel wrote a note on Friday.
Reserve elements “durable” They argue that legislation should be included authorizing certain actions and allocating funds to those actions. They’re labeling EO issuance “a dud” — at least for now.
“We will reassess the relevance of the SBR when Treasury and Commerce publish the strategies to acquire BTC.”
Even though this is a reasonable view, some still see this as an important step to legitimize BTC. Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen encouraged people to “zoom out,” The ripple effect is a good example of this.
David Lawant, Falcon X’s research director, pointed out a few more positives. Trump’s orders clearly placed BTC into a different category, while acknowledging the importance of other digital assets.).
And the EO seems to shield the reserve from any backlash on taxpayer money usage, he added — noting the US could diversify its gold reserves into BTC and/or utilize the Exchange Stabilization Fund.
There’s no way to know how much we will learn at/after the White House crypto summit today (which is happening now).
Updates will be posted on Blockworks’ X (and mine, Casey’s and Casey’s).
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