President Trump Signs Executive Order Establishing U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

On March 7, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, utilizing approximately 200,000 bitcoins already seized by the federal government from criminal and civil forfeiture cases.

This move, announced by White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, aims to create a permanent store of value without burdening taxpayers, as it relies solely on existing government-held assets rather than new purchases.

The order also mandates a comprehensive audit of federal digital asset holdings and prohibits the sale of the reserve’s bitcoin. Additionally, a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile was created to manage other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano, also sourced from seized assets.

The announcement came a day before a White House Crypto Summit on March 8, 2025, where Trump met with industry leaders to discuss further policy details. Initially proposed during his 2024 campaign at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump’s plan evolved from a bitcoin-only stockpile to a broader crypto reserve, sparking both excitement and skepticism.

While some in the crypto community see it as a historic validation of digital assets and a step toward making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” critics, including economists and some crypto advocates, question its economic rationale, the inclusion of volatile altcoins, and potential conflicts of interest tied to administration figures like Sacks.

Bitcoin prices dropped about 5% to $85,000 following the announcement, reflecting mixed market reactions.