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After receiving swathes of backlash for proposing a crypto reserve that wasn't solely focused on Bitcoin, President Donald Trump has now signed an executive order for a Bitcoin-only reserve.
Earlier this week, Trump said the US crypto reserve would feature Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. The crypto industry, which had been calling out for a crypto reserve, was left bitterly disappointed to discover that their long awaited reserve would hold other assets beyond Bitcoin.
Samson Mow, who (in)famously predicted Bitcoin would hit $1 million last year, described Trump's announcement as a "sad day" due to its inclusion of "shitcoins."
Blockhead
"#Bitcoin might be up but it’s a sad day for America if they actually shitcoin at a nation-state level. I can’t really say I’m surprised though, with Trump having launched a memecoin," he tweeted. "Hypershitcoinization awaits."
Riot Platforms vice president of research, Pierre Rochard, shared similar sentiment towards the reserve's altcoin inclusion.
“As altcoins inevitably demonetize and trend to zero relative to Bitcoin, the strategic reserve will naturally become Bitcoin-only. Folks, this is Economics 101,” he said.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back also shared a meme that stated, “Best I can do is a strategic shitcoin reserve.”
However, according to a post by White House Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks, Trump has now signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve. The reserve will be funded exclusively with seized Bitcoin.
Just a few minutes ago, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
— David Sacks (@davidsacks47) March 7, 2025
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…
"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 explained.
The US government owns 200,000 BTC and has pledged to not sell any of the BTC deposited in the reserve.
But while the reserve won't see any of its Bitcoin being sold, the market was disappointed to learn that the US government has no intention of adding to its stash. “The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks said.
Consequently, Bitcoin's price fell around 5% after the announcement was made. When Trump revealed the mixed-bag crypto reserve earlier this week, XRP, SOL, and ADA jumped 30%, 20%, and 60% respectively, while BTC and Ethereum rose around 10%.
However, it's not all gloom. Although Sacks declared the government will not acquire additional assets for the stockpile, he also revealed that the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are "authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers. "
This essentially means that while the government intends on not adding to the stockpile, it certainly could through the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce. BRN analyst, Valentin Fournier, highlighted how Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has a history of being bullish on Bitcoin.
"Given Lutnick’s strong ties to Bitcoin through his involvement with MicroStrategy, this could signal a hidden accumulation strategy by the U.S. government, potentially igniting a parabolic rally," Fournier explained.
Given Lutnick’s strong ties to Bitcoin through his involvement with MicroStrategy, this could signal a hidden accumulation strategy by the U.S. government, potentially igniting a parabolic rally.
— BRN (Blockhead Research Network) (@thebrn_co) March 7, 2025
Under Howard Lutnick's former leadership, Cantor Fitzgerald acquired over $1 billion in MicroStrategy shares during Q4 2024, becoming the company's largest shareholder.
