On March 7, the evening before the White House crypto summit, White House AI and crypto director David Sacks officially stated: “President Trump has signed an executive order to establish a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve. This reserve will use Bitcoin obtained by the government through asset forfeiture procedures and will not increase the burden on taxpayers.” Following this news, the market interpreted it as “bad news following good news,” and the BTC price plummeted from over $90,000 to around $85,000.
White House: The next center of the crypto world, the starting point for America to become the 'crypto capital.' The reason for the crypto market's lukewarm reaction, even a 'Sell The News' phenomenon, is that, at present, the content of this presidential executive order does not contain much news to stimulate BTC buying, but rather further compresses the imaginative space for 'positive U.S. government policy.'
President Trump's executive order: A BTC reserve plan that costs taxpayers not a dime.
Based on the information disclosed by David Sacks and the fact sheet provided by the White House office regarding the BTC reserve plan, we can draw the following key information:
BTC reserve source: The strategic Bitcoin reserve will capitalize on Bitcoins seized as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture procedures owned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. (David Sacks emphasized: this means taxpayers will spend not a dime.)
Existing reserve information: Unverified information shows that the U.S. government holds approximately 200,000 Bitcoins, and subsequently, the federal government will conduct a comprehensive accounting of its digital assets. The U.S. will not sell any Bitcoin deposited in reserves; it will be retained as a store of value, equivalent to 'digital gold,' similar to the Fort Knox reserve of gold.
Past asset book losses: Previous premature sales of Bitcoin have caused U.S. taxpayers to lose over $17 billion.
Digital asset repository: In addition to BTC, the U.S. Treasury will also manage other digital assets seized in criminal or civil proceedings (as revealed by Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett, which may include previously mentioned XRP, ADA, ETH, SOL, and other assets) to establish a repository, and the Treasury has the authority to sell them. The U.S. government will not acquire digital assets through means other than forfeiture proceedings. (The original statement is: The government will not acquire additional assets for the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings.)
Follow-up operational plans: Institutions must provide a comprehensive account of their digital asset holdings to the Treasury Secretary and the President's Digital Asset Market Working Group; the government will take proactive measures to centralize ownership, control, and management internally to ensure appropriate regulation, accurate tracking, and a consistent approach to managing government cryptocurrency holdings; avoid the chaos of decentralized processing of cryptocurrencies.
Relevant decision-makers: Trump has fulfilled his promise to make America the 'world crypto capital,' with significant contributions from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Working Group Executive Director Bo Hines.
Interpreting the BTC reserve plan: Led by the Treasury Department, the BTC competition has begun.
In summary, the promotion of the BTC reserve plan in President Trump's executive order relies on the subsequent actions of the U.S. Treasury Department, which mainly include:
Comprehensive audit of existing BTC holdings: According to Lookonchain monitoring, U.S. government public wallets currently hold 198,109 BTC, valued at approximately $16.92 billion. Previously, the U.S. government transferred approximately 222,000 Bitcoins (then valued at $3.28 billion, now worth about $19.42 billion) to platforms such as Coinbase and CoinbasePrime, with an average selling price of $14,736. (Odaily Note: Additionally, the U.S. government wallet holds over $120 million in USDT, $118 million in ETH, $64.13 million in WBTC, and $23.35 million in BNB, among other cryptocurrencies.)
The U.S. government initiates the BTC reserve competition: From official statements, the Trump administration places great importance on fulfilling previous campaign promises, repeatedly emphasizing that 'the promise has been fulfilled'; at the same time, U.S. crypto-friendly senator and chair of the Senate Banking Committee's Digital Asset Subcommittee Cynthia Lummis also stated that America is becoming the capital of Bitcoin and digital assets, America is back. Trump also stated in the fact sheet: 'I have a very positive and open attitude towards cryptocurrency companies and emerging industries related to this. Our country must be a leader in this field.' Previously, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan also stated in his investment memo: 'Trump is like a game changer; the establishment of the U.S. crypto strategic reserve will be regarded as the first shot in a global Bitcoin arms race and will trigger a domino effect. Countries like Honduras, Mexico, or Guatemala, now it’s America’s turn to acquire Bitcoin; will countries like Dubai, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia envy America’s leading position? Countries may regard Bitcoin as an important monetary asset.' Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post about 'economic freedom': 'The next global arms race will take place in the digital economy, not in space'; asset manager and investor Anthony Pompliano stated: 'Officials anywhere should include BTC in their balance sheets, as it is not like more gold can be dug up from the ground. The race to adopt Bitcoin is mainly driven by currency devaluation, pointing out that U.S. residents have lost about 25% of their purchasing power over the past five years.'
Of course, not all crypto industry figures hold an optimistic view on this move; the current market opinions can be said to be mixed.
Industry figures' views: Most believe it will trigger a wave of BTC reserves, while a minority are pessimistic about the implementation of specific plans.
Overall, U.S. government figures, represented by Cynthia Lummis, hold an optimistic view of the BTC reserve. Although it differs from the previous idea of 'buying 1 million BTC within 5 years' (the BTC strategic reserve plan concept), Trump's signing of the executive order to promote BTC reserves is indeed a milestone progress. Below are representative views from industry figures:
Strategy Founder: Willing to help the U.S. government purchase additional BTC
Under David Sacks' tweet announcing the BTC reserve plan, Strategy founder Michael Saylor commented: 'I have several budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin...’ directly expressing the urgent desire to propose and strategize.
Core Scientific board member: Should sell gold and buy BTC
Core Scientific board member Eric Weiss also commented: 'Selling gold to buy Bitcoin is budget balancing.'
Bitwise: Undoubtedly bullish move
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan stated: This move 1) greatly reduces the likelihood of the U.S. government 'banning' Bitcoin in the future; 2) significantly increases the likelihood that other countries will establish strategic Bitcoin reserves; 3) accelerates the consideration of establishing strategic Bitcoin reserves by other countries, as it creates a short-term window for them to act before possible additional purchases by the U.S.; 4) makes it more difficult for institutions—from national account advisory platforms to quasi-government agencies like the IMF—to position Bitcoin as something dangerous or unsuitable to hold. Bitwise Research Director Ryan Rasmussen also stated: The U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve means—other countries will buy Bitcoin; wealth managers have no excuse; financial institutions have no excuse; pension/endowment funds have no excuse; the fear of the U.S. crashing BTC is gone; the likelihood of the U.S. buying more has just increased; the likelihood of states buying has just risen; the probability of the government banning Bitcoin is absolutely zero. This changes everything. Keep a long-term perspective.
DForcenet founder: Not selling but buying, eagerly awaiting BTC revenue diversification plans
DForcenet founder Mingdao commented: “Government attitude: Buy if not sell (bullish). Speculative ideas for budget neutrality: 1. Rebalance gold reserves to BTC; 2. Fund BTC miners through BTC bonds and lend BTC to crypto companies (like Coinbase, Blackrock, etc.); 3. Buy Bitcoin with cryptocurrency taxes (or allow tax payments in Bitcoin); 4. DeFi liquidity mining with BTC.”
Bankless Founder: Other governments will follow suit, extremely bullish
Bankless founder David Hoffman stated: 'Anyone selling news about BTC strategic reserves is demonstrating a path to failure; Bitcoin enthusiasts have been discussing this topic for over a decade; all governments will follow suit. Governments around the world now hold BTC, rather than selling. Extremely bullish.'
Coinbase CEO: Expects G20 countries to follow the U.S. in establishing Bitcoin reserves
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the U.S. government's actions regarding Bitcoin reserves have historical significance, and noted that the Trump administration performed excellently in this regard. He expects many G20 countries to pay attention to and eventually emulate the U.S. leadership.
Galaxy Research Director: The U.S. government can invest a maximum of 88,000 BTC from strategic reserves, over 110,000 BTC needs to be returned to Bitfinex
In contrast to the highly optimistic industry figures mentioned above, Galaxy Digital Research Director Alex Thorn stated: “We believe that the maximum Bitcoin balance available for the U.S. government as a strategic reserve is 88,000 BTC, which accounts for only 43% of the current government holdings. This is because out of the approximately 198,000 BTC currently held by the U.S. government, 112,000 BTC will be returned to Bitfinex.” (Odaily Note: A large amount of BTC held by the U.S. government comes from the investigation of the Bitfinex hack that occurred in August 2016, which resulted in a loss of about 120,000 BTC. Bitfinex is attempting to recover this portion of BTC, which is expected to require lengthy legal processes.)
As of the time of writing, David Sacks has again released (the White House executive order on establishing a strategic BTC reserve and U.S. digital asset stockpile) (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserveand-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/), clarifying the legal and boundary limitations of subsequent specific operations, emphasizing:
Within 60 days of the issuance of this order, the Treasury Secretary should submit an assessment of future considerations for establishing and managing the strategic Bitcoin reserve and U.S. digital asset reserve, including the accounts where the strategic Bitcoin reserve and U.S. digital asset reserve should be held, and the necessity of legislation required for the proper management and operation of such accounts.
Within 30 days of the issuance of this order, heads of agencies must provide a comprehensive account of all government digital assets owned by their agency to the Treasury Secretary and the President's Digital Asset Market Working Group, including any information regarding custodial accounts related to such government digital assets that is necessary for transferring government digital assets to the strategic Bitcoin reserve or U.S. digital asset repository. If the agency does not hold any government digital assets, it must confirm this fact to the Treasury Secretary and the President's Digital Asset Market Working Group within 30 days of the issuance of this order.
Preview of the White House crypto summit: Focus on President Trump's executive order, release of crypto policy.
Attendees: A mix of government and business, crypto is king.
According to the guest list for the White House cryptocurrency summit provided by Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett, the current attendees include:
Exchange leaders: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek; Gemini founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss;
Crypto industry figures: MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor; MARA CEO Fred Thiel; BitGo CEO Mike Belshe; Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse; Exodus co-founder Jp Richardson, World Liberty Fund co-founder Zach Witkoff, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov; Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey; FalconX CEO Raghu Yarlagadda; Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley;
Investment institution figures: Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani; a16z general partner Chris Dixon; WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg;
Government-related figures: Former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo; former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks.
Overall, more than 90% of the attendees represent the crypto industry, and many of these industry figures have previously supported Trump's campaign with real money. This summit may be the first 'large-scale meeting' after Trump takes office as the 47th President of the United States, with some community members jokingly calling it the 'American version of a private entrepreneurs' seminar.'
From this perspective, it is important not only who attended, but also who did not.
Other policy speculations: Crypto taxes, stablecoin regulation
According to X platform user @mikealfred, multiple sources confirm that the Trump administration will make a significant announcement regarding digital asset taxation at tomorrow's summit. This announcement is expected to involve new regulatory measures or plans that could have a profound impact on the digital asset industry. More details will be disclosed during the summit.
Previously, market news revealed that Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev stated that Trump may legislate stablecoins within the year.
In addition, on March 21, the U.S. SEC will host the first roundtable meeting of the cryptocurrency industry, totaling five sessions, which may advance detailed plans for tomorrow's crypto summit.