Bitcoin supporters have expressed disappointment with language in US President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency executive order to study a “stockpile of digital assets.” There was not a single mention of any major cryptocurrency here.
“‘Bitcoin’ is not mentioned once in the executive order,” podcast host Peter McCormack said in a Jan. 23 X post. Meanwhile, other Bitcoin supporters are concerned that the reserve should only include Bitcoin (BTC) and could potentially include other cryptocurrencies.
“The Bitcoin maxis is really suffering from the ‘digital asset’ language,” Travis Kling, chief investment officer at Ikigai Asset Management, wrote about X.
President Trump’s January 23 order directed the working group to study and propose cryptocurrency inventories “potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the federal government through law enforcement efforts.”
At the Nashville Bitcoin Conference last July, Trump promised to create a “strategic national Bitcoin reserve” using $20 billion worth of BTC seized by the Justice Department.
🚨 NOW: Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will help make America “the capital of crypto.” pic.twitter.com/UELJCDvGeb
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 23, 2025
Dennis Porter, CEO of the Bitcoin-focused Satoshi Action Fund, said the working group’s use of the word “digital asset” is a term that is “technology-neutral” and “reduces political friction.” That’s why I said “practical.”
He added, “Technology-neutral language like ‘digital assets’ is a proven and effective way to achieve the end goal of making the United States the world’s largest holder of Bitcoin.”
But Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms, said there was “no ambiguity” in the language of the order.
He also claimed Ripple Labs was the “biggest obstacle” to dedicated Bitcoin reserves and accused the company of “aggressively lobbying” to allow it to “push forward a CBDC built on its platform.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse countered by saying he believes the company’s efforts are “actually increasing the likelihood of crypto strategic reserves (including Bitcoin) occurring.”
Arkham Intelligence data shows that the United States holds dozens of cryptocurrencies, including about $182 million worth of Ether (ETH) and several million dollars worth of various altcoins.
The largest holding is 198,100 BTC, which is worth $20.4 billion and accounts for almost 98% of cryptocurrency holdings.
US government’s cryptocurrency holdings. source: Arkham Intelligence
David Sacks, President Trump’s cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence czar, will lead a study into the nation’s cryptocurrency asset reserves, although no decision has been made yet on whether it will proceed, he said.
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FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett reported that Sacks said “we’ll evaluate it” when asked about cryptocurrency inventory. “We haven’t decided to do that yet. We need to study that,” Sacks added.
Reserve assets generally refer to reserves that a government maintains for future use or emergencies and are generally not sold.
This contrasts with strategic reserve assets (what many industry experts hope Bitcoin will become), which are financial assets held in government treasuries to strengthen a country’s financial health.
The current price of Bitcoin is $104,290 and has been relatively flat over the past 24 hours.
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