President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, according to White House Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Czar David Sacks in a Thursday (March 6) post on X.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will be funded with bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil asset forfeitures and owned by the federal government, which means it “will not cost taxpayers a dime,” Sacks stated in his post.
The executive order also mandates a comprehensive accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings, noted Sacks, adding that such an audit has never been conducted and estimates suggest that the government possesses approximately 200,000 bitcoin.
Bitcoin allocated to the reserve will not be sold. Rather, it will serve as a store of value, functioning as a “digital Fort Knox” for bitcoin, according to Sacks.
“Hasty sales of bitcoin have already led to over $17 billion in lost value for U.S. taxpayers,” Sacks remarked in the post. “Now, the federal government will have a plan to maximize the worth of its holdings.”
The executive order empowers the secretaries of Treasury and Commerce to formulate “budget-neutral strategies” for the acquisition of more bitcoin at no additional cost to taxpayers.
The U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, as established by the executive order, will include digital assets other than bitcoin that have been forfeited during criminal or civil processes, said Sacks. Furthermore, the government will not seek to acquire more assets for the stockpile.
“The objective of the Stockpile is to ensure responsible management of the government’s digital assets under the Treasury Department,” Sacks indicated in the post.
Sacks added in the post: “This Executive Order highlights President Trump’s dedication to establishing the U.S. as the ‘crypto capital of the world.’”
Trump previously stated in a Jan. 23 executive order that a newly formed Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets would, among other objectives, examine the creation of a “strategic national digital assets stockpile.”
On Sunday (March 2), Trump revealed not only the formation of a U.S. strategic cryptocurrency reserve but also the digital assets it may encompass: bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, Solana’s SOL coin and Cardano’s ADA.
