$BTC

White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks described the reserve as a "digital Fort Knox" and said the government had been losing out on bitcoin's value by selling it prematurely.

Trump, who has a financial stake in a crypto business called World Liberty Financial that he and his family launched in Sept. 2024 and his own memecoin, promised on the campaign trail to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet."

On Friday, flanked by Sacks and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump applauded efforts in Congress to try and provide regulatory frameworks around cryptocurrency. He said he hoped lawmakers put legislation related to cryptocurrency on his desk before the August recess.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for economic growth and innovation in our financial sector and will really go a long way," he said. "We feel like pioneers in a way."

The White House didn't release a guest list of who attended the event, but other administration officials like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and head of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler spoke — as well as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twins who founded the Gemini crypto exchange.