- David Sacks asserts that the US forfeited $16 billion by selling its bitcoin prematurely.
- A recent executive order by Trump established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve along with a Digital Asset Stockpile.
- Following Trump’s alteration in crypto policy, both Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies experienced price increases.
David Sacks, who was appointed as the administration’s “crypto czar” by President Donald Trump, claimed that the US government might have lost over $16 billion due to the early sale of its bitcoins.
“At one time, we held about 400,000 bitcoins on the federal balance sheet. We sold approximately half for around $360 million,” Sacks explained during an episode of the All-In Podcast on Friday. “The portion we sold would now be worth more than $17 billion if we had kept it all.”
“We made the error of selling bitcoin too soon when we should have retained it,” Sacks emphasized. “We must avoid repeating that mistake with the remaining assets.”
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order creating a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and a “Digital Asset Stockpile” to position the US as a frontrunner in the cryptocurrency sector. This was followed by the inaugural “Crypto Summit” at the White House on Friday, where industry figures like Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, commended Trump for ending a “negative regime” regarding digital assets.
Sacks noted that these new initiatives would prohibit the sale of bitcoins currently on the federal balance sheet and would secure them in what he referred to as a “digital Fort Knox.” He also proposed having a range of cryptocurrencies in a stockpile that could be traded at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain a balanced portfolio. Furthermore, any future crypto assets seized by federal law enforcement should be documented and stored in the reserve.
Moreover, Sacks indicated that the treasury and commerce secretaries would be empowered to develop strategies to accumulate additional bitcoin for the reserve, as long as those strategies are budget-neutral and do not incur costs to taxpayers. However, specific details regarding this remain unclear.
After Trump’s executive order, bitcoin prices saw a brief rebound following recent declines. Smaller cryptocurrencies like XRP, Solana, and Cardano experienced a price spike, which was quickly followed by a drop after Trump mentioned them as potential inclusions in the crypto stockpile.
As of now, neither David Sacks nor the Department of the Treasury has responded to requests for comments.
