President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, just one day before meeting with crypto industry leaders at the White House.
The reserve will be funded using Bitcoin owned by the federal government, primarily assets forfeited through criminal and civil asset seizures, according to White House crypto czar David Sacks. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sacks described the move as a step toward solidifying the U.S.'s position in the digital asset space.
Attendees at Friday’s White House crypto summit expect Trump to formally unveil his plan for the reserve, which will include Bitcoin and four other cryptocurrencies. Earlier this week, Trump identified the five digital assets he intends to include: Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, and Cardano—each of which saw a brief price surge following his announcement.
The specifics of how the reserve will function—or how it will benefit taxpayers—remain unclear. Sacks stated that the government will have a strategy to maximize the value of its holdings but did not provide further details.
“The U.S. will not sell any Bitcoin deposited into the reserve. It will be held as a store of value,” Sacks said. “The reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for what is often called **‘digital gold.’”
Trump’s pro-crypto stance has received both praise and criticism. The crypto industry—which spent millions supporting Trump and other Republicans in the last election—welcomed the move. However, some conservatives and crypto advocates have expressed concerns that the plan could favor wealthy investors while undermining the broader legitimacy of the industry.
Bitcoin’s price briefly dropped more than 5%, falling below $85,000 after Sacks’ post, before rebounding to $88,107.
“This is the most underwhelming and disappointing outcome we could have expected this week,” wrote Charles Edwards, founder of Bitcoin-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments, in a post on X.
“No active buying means this is just a fancy label for Bitcoin holdings the government already had. This is a pig in lipstick.”
Trump’s executive order also directs the Treasury and Commerce Departments to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin without imposing new costs on taxpayers.
Sacks estimated that the U.S. government currently owns about 200,000 Bitcoin and that premature sales of the asset have cost taxpayers $17 billion—though he did not provide details on how these figures were calculated.
Trump’s deepening ties to the crypto sector have also sparked conflict-of-interest concerns. His family has launched cryptocurrency meme coins, and Trump himself holds a stake in World Liberty Financial, a digital asset platform.
His advisers maintain that Trump has relinquished control of his business interests, and outside ethics lawyers are reviewing the situation.
