-
A
strategic
U.S.
stockpile
of
bitcoin
is
now
among
presidential
candidate
Donald
Trump’s
campaign
promises,
and
Sen.
Cynthia
Lummis
is
currently
working
on
a
bill
to
do
it. -
The
effort
remains
short
on
details,
so
far,
and
its
near-term
chances
in
Congress
would
likely
be
limited.
Former
President
Donald
Trump,
a
sitting
U.S.
senator
and
some
of
the
biggest
names
in
bitcoin
(BTC)
investing
all
seem
to
agree
that
the
U.S.
should
begin
building
a
reserve
of
the
most
prominent
crypto
token.
But
concrete
details
are
few,
and
it’s
not
an
idea
that’s
likely
to
be
executed
anytime
soon.
Trump
didn’t
explicitly
embrace
any
specifics
on
stockpiling
bitcoin
when
he
spoke
on
stage
at
Bitcoin
2024,
saying
just
that
the
U.S.
should
keep
everything
it
has
through
existing
seizures
and
whatever
it
gets
in
the
future
as
some
kind
of
reserve.
“For
too
long
our
government
has
violated
the
cardinal
rule
that
every
bitcoiner
knows
by
heart:
Never
sell
your
bitcoin,”
Trump
told
the
delighted
crowd
of
bitcoin
enthusiasts
on
Saturday.
The
Republican
nominee
for
the
2024
presidential
election
said
his
policy
in
a
second
term
would
be
to
keep
the
current
government
holdings
“as
the
core
of
the
strategic
national
bitcoin
stockpile,”
which
he
said
would
begin
to
“transform
that
vast
wealth
into
a
permanent
national
asset
to
benefit
all
Americans.”
Sen.
Cynthia
Lummis
(R-Wyo.)
said
at
the
conference
that
a
bill
she’s
working
on
would
set
aside
the
country’s
existing
holding
of
more
than
200,000
bitcoin
and
add
to
it
until
the
U.S.
builds
to
a
million
of
the
tokens
–
or
nearly
5%
of
the
supply
–
by
converting
excess
reserves
in
the
Federal
Reserve
system.
“This
is
our
Louisiana
Purchase
moment,”
Lummis
said
to
a
cheering
crowd
at
the
Bitcoin
2024
event,
referring
to
the
deal
that
added
vast
territories
to
the
post-colonial
U.S.
“Thank
you,
Bitcoin.”
The
coins
currently
held
by
the
U.S.
government
came
through
its
seizures
from
individuals
or
entities
associated
with
criminal
activity.
Nearly
half
of
the
coins
–
around
95,000
–
came
from
two
individuals
accused
of
laundering
funds
stolen
from
a
hack
of
crypto
exchange
Bitfinex.
Though
Lummis
said
the
proposed
reserve
would
be
used
to
reduce
or
eliminate
the
U.S.
national
debt,
she
didn’t
share
details
on
how
it
would
be
deployed
to
that
end,
apart
from
the
basic
math
that
swelling
U.S.
government
wealth
would
generally
equate
with
reduced
indebtedness.
Further
information
hasn’t
yet
emerged
from
the
senator’s
office
as
she
continues
to
get
a
bill
ready
and
tries
to
line
up
other
senators
to
get
on
board.
A
spokesperson
for
the
lawmaker
did
not
respond
to
multiple
requests
for
comment.
While
the
industry
tried
to
absorb
the
idea
on
Monday,
U.S.
authorities
moved
a
major
chunk
of
the
government’s
bitcoin
–
about
$2
billion
worth,
associated
with
the
Silk
Road
website
seizures.
It’s
so
far
unclear
what’s
happening
with
the
assets
and
whether
it’s
a
prelude
to
sale.
The
government’s
supply
comes
from
criminal
cases,
and
the
U.S.
Marshals
Service
is
responsible
for
liquidating
U.S.
holdings,
though
that’s
proven
to
pose
a
challenge.
For
various
reasons
in
its
history,
the
U.S.
has
established
strategic
stockpiles
of
a
number
of
vital
commodities,
such
as
gold,
oil,
grain
and
helium.
“For
the
U.S.
to
institute
Bitcoin
as
a
strategic
reserve
will
similarly
require
further
work
including
determining
how
much
should
be
held
as
a
reserve
and
the
basis
for
that
threshold,
how
to
acquire,
how
and
where
to
store,
when
to
utilize
and
in
what
circumstances,
which
agency
would
be
responsible,
the
timeline
to
implement,
amongst
several
other
considerations,”
said
Rahul
Mewawalla,
CEO
of
Mawson
Infrastructure
Group,
a
bitcoin
mining
company,
in
an
emailed
statement.
Answering
those
questions
“can
be
challenging,”
and
establishing
a
council
of
industry
participants
could
help,
he
said.
Such
a
consequential
–
and
likely
contentious
–
bill
as
the
one
Lummis
has
in
mind
would
have
little
runway
for
progress
in
the
current
congressional
session
that
ends
in
January.
The
Democrat-led
Senate
hasn’t
yet
embraced
crypto
legislation
enough
to
bring
any
of
the
existing
bills
to
a
vote,
and
the
2024
election
in
November
promises
to
turn
every
policy
question
into
a
political
debate.
A
bill
from
Republican
Lummis
would
potentially
fare
better
in
the
next
session
if
her
party
claims
the
majority
in
that
chamber,
though
Senate
measures
typically
need
some
bipartisan
support
to
advance.
Lummis
has
signed
onto
a
number
of
pro-crypto
initiatives
in
recent
years,
including
a
comprehensive
effort
to
establish
U.S.
oversight
and
rules
for
digital
assets,
though
none
of
them
have
yet
seen
action.
However,
this
idea
has
a
lot
of
influential
fans,
so
far.
Michael
Saylor,
executive
chairman
of
software
firm
MicroStrategy
(MSTR),
the
largest
corporate
holder
of
bitcoin,
made
a
case
that
the
U.S.
should
aim
quite
a
bit
higher.
He
said
it
should
acquire
4
million
BTC
to
boost
its
Treasury
and
build
its
financial
strength.
He
said
one
or
two
early-mover
nations
will
have
such
a
chance.
“Bitcoin
is
not
the
solution
to
all
our
problems,”
Saylor
said.
“It
is
the
solution
to
half
our
problems.”
ARK
Invest
CEO
Cathie
Wood
also
backed
the
reserve
idea.
“If
they
do
it
in
the
right
way,
meaning
this
is
not
an
instrument
of
monetary
policy
at
all,
but
it
simply
goes
on
our
balance
sheet
…
this
could
be
transformational,”
she
said.
Robert
F.
Kennedy,
another
presidential
candidate
running
as
an
independent,
also
strongly
favored
the
reserve
idea
at
the
same
event
on
Friday.
Even
if
it
doesn’t
happen,
the
very
idea
of
it
may
be
enough
to
benefit
the
bitcoin
ecosystem,
said
Pedro
Lapenta,
the
head
of
research
at
Hashdex.
“While
it
remains
unclear
if
or
when
the
US
might
hold
bitcoin
as
a
strategic
reserve
asset,
this
idea
is
now
permanently
in
the
realm
of
public
policy
ideas
for
governments
across
the
globe,”
Lapenta
said
in
an
emailed
statement.
“This
is
a
monumental
development
and
will
force
many
governments
and
large
institutions
to
carefully
consider
the
benefits
of
holding
BTC.”
