The government seems to be amassing more Bitcoin. But little work seems to be happening to enact the terms of the executive order Trump signed to start the ‘strategic reserve.’ Last March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the government would launch a strategic reserve of Bitcoin. For the crypto industry, the move was a major win, the next step in its quest to normalize digital assets.
Now, nearly a year later, the amount of Bitcoin held by the U.S. government does seem to be growing, but the federal government also seems somewhat reluctant to talk about if, and how, the stockpile will actually be set up. As of January, the U.S. government appears to have amassed about $29 billion worth of Bitcoin, many from seizures that follow criminal investigations, according to a new analysis by Chainalysis, a blockchain data firm. That’s up nearly 50% from May of last year, when the group last conducted a study of government-linked crypto wallets. “Those BTC numbers continue to go up over time,” Eric Jardine, Chainalysis’s head of research, told Fast Company.
That stockpile is smaller than some private firms also amassing crypto, he explained, but “the current total for the U.S. government is quite sizable—as big, if not bigger, than every other government.” The growing reserves align with Trump’s executive order, which stated there was a “strategic advantage” to building up the American government’s cryptocurrency troves because, like gold, there’s a “fixed supply.” The White House suggests that building up a supply of Bitcoin, like any “resource,” is good for the national interest, though there are forceful criticisms of that notion. Still, for all the initial fanfare, the Treasury Department has since been relatively quiet about its progress on moving forward with the reserve.
While the government does seem to have begun to hold—rather than sell off—seized Bitcoin, federal agencies mostly ignored Fast Company’s requests for comment on how they’re actually enacting the terms of the order. One source in Treasury Department circles said that there’s been radio silence when it comes to the stockpile. In fact, it seems like the reserve may be facing some legal hurdles. As Fast Company reported the story, Patrick Witt, a White House staffer working on crypto issues, indicated on a crypto-friendly podcast that legal conversations about setting up the reserve were still ongoing.
“That one is—it’s interesting,” he said. “It seems straightforward, but then you get into some obscure legal provisions, and why this agency can’t do it, but actually, this agency could. We’re continuing to push on that. It is certainly still on the priority list right now.”
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