In a push to establish a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, Senator Cynthia Lummis met with incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, expressing optimism about his support for digital assets. Senator Lummis shared today on X (formerly Twitter)
This follows shortly after President-elect Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, as noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter). In an interview with CNBC Anchor Jim Cramer, Trump says “We are going to do something great with crypto because we don’t want China, or anybody else, to be ahead.”
Senator Lummis, referring to this interview, offered assistance to Trump, saying “I’m ready to help you make this a reality”.
Lummis’ Bitcoin support and pressure on the U.S. to adopt it as a reserve is nothing new, comparing it to “the Space Race”, and viewing it as a competition that “America must win”. Many Bitcoin advocates agree with Lummis, viewing this as a necessary step to reverse some of the economic decline the US has caused to other countries over the last few decades.
The other side of this argument, from members inside the Bitcoin industry, is in line with the mission, but in disagreement on how to achieve the end goal. They claim the U.S. government has seized over $1 Billion in Bitcoin, yet instead of discussing policies to curb this aggressive asset seizure, the industry is debating over a strategic reserve, which seems like a secondary priority compared to the former. “We’re missing the mark by a mile, Shouldn’t we be protecting our rights rather than focusing on the loot?”, an industry leader shared with me anonymously.
In July, Lummis introduced a bill to use existing government funds to purchase 1 million bitcoins. Starting as Republican-focused, the bill has quickly become more bi-partisan, following support from Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who came out in favor of the U.S. taking custody of its seized Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.
The adoption of Bitcoin by nation-states would initiate a digital gold rush, potentially slowing down or even reversing the trend toward physical gold ownership. U.S. policymakers could leverage Bitcoin as an instrument of economic strategy, countering China and Russia’s efforts to shift away from the U.S. dollar to precious metals. In this scenario, whose balance sheet would see the most advantage? That of the United States.
While the future of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve in the U.S. is partially unknown, it is still a breath of fresh air for many Americans to see an administration attempt to be ahead of the curve in terms of technological innovation. The other side of this coin would say that the ‘juice is not worth the squeeze’ when referring to the bets placed on what is still considered a ‘speculative asset’. The future of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve will unfold over time, with its success or failure serving as a testament to the foresight or folly of current policy considerations.
