President Donald Trump on Thursday created a Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve and a Digital Asset Reserve by executive order, the day before his White House cryptocurrency summit.
The executive order comes after he announced on Sunday that he would create a strategic cryptocurrency reserve that will include Bitcoin, Solana and XRP, among others.
The document states that it is the policy of the United States to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and a Digital Asset Reserve that can serve as a secure account for the orderly and strategic management of the country's other digital asset holdings and that the Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an office to manage them.
Also, that within 60 days of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deliver an assessment of the legal and investment considerations for establishing and managing the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and the Digital Asset Reserve, 'including the accounts in which they should be located and the need for any legislation to operationalize any aspect of this order or the proper management and administration of such accounts.'
In his post on Sunday, Trump indicated that he would order the government to stockpile Bitcoin, Ethereum and three other tokens, prompting backlash from the cryptocurrency industry.
The cryptocurrency industry has enjoyed unprecedented access in the Trump White House, in contrast to the more hardline stance of former President Joe Biden and his administration.
Shortly after the executive order was signed, David Sacks, the White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, explained on his X page that the Fed will be capitalized with federally owned bitcoins that have been seized as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, meaning “it won’t cost taxpayers a dime.”
The government is also estimated to hold around 200,000 bitcoins; however, a full audit has never been conducted. The executive order mandates a full accounting of the federal government's digital asset holdings and specifies that it will not sell any bitcoins deposited in the Fed.
