Trump Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve a Day Before White House Crypto Summit

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday, establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a stockpile of other digital assets, ahead of hosting a crypto summit at the White House.

The Treasury Department will create an office to manage the reserve, which will be funded by Bitcoin (BTC) seized through criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, as stated in the order.

"Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency," the order reads. "Given its fixed supply, there is a strategic benefit to being one of the first nations to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve."
The order also established a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile under the Treasury Department to oversee other cryptocurrencies and assets. On Sunday, Trump announced on social media that he would instruct the government to accumulate Bitcoin, Ethereum, and three other tokens, sparking criticism from the crypto community.

Additionally, the executive order mandated a comprehensive review of the government’s digital asset holdings. David Sacks, the White House’s AI and cryptocurrency czar, shared on X that the government currently holds about 200,000 Bitcoin. With each Bitcoin valued at approximately $87,000, the total estimated worth of the reserve is around $17.5 billion.

The cryptocurrency industry has gained unprecedented influence in Trump’s White House, in contrast to the more stringent approach taken by former President Joe Biden’s administration. For instance, the White House is hosting its first-ever crypto summit this Friday.

Similar to the broader market, the crypto market has been volatile as Trump’s economic policies take effect, including fluctuating tariffs that have created instability in the global economy. In times of uncertainty, investors tend to retreat from riskier assets like crypto.

Critics argue that the value of crypto is artificially supported and question the necessity of creating a reserve.

“The second you start to sell, the price is going to start tanking,” Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University and a prominent crypto skeptic, previously told CNN. “It just shows how pointless the whole thing is if you have any goal other than to essentially provide exit liquidity for existing holders.”

In his Sunday post on Truth Social, Trump stated that, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, he would also stockpile the lesser-known tokens Solana, XRP, and Cardano.
Sacks also responded to social media accusations claiming he had a conflict of interest as a cryptocurrency investor. The co-founder of Craft Ventures tweeted that he had sold all his crypto holdings before Trump took office and mentioned he would “provide an update at the end of the ethics process.”

“There may still be several surprises that come out of the historic summit on Friday, and the market will still continue to deal with the weaker-than-expected jobs data that came in today and other macro factors,” said Gerald Gallagher, general counsel for Sei Labs.

“That said, the industry leaders attending should be able to continue to advise on policy in the right direction, and we need to keep winning with the regulators and the courts with the help of this administration,” he added.