White House crypto czar David Sacks has revealed plans for the Treasury Department to focus on maximizing the value of XRP, Bitcoin, and other digital assets held by the U.S. government.
The announcement follows Donald Trump’s commitment to establishing a U.S. crypto reserve. Sacks outlined the strategy during a recent appearance on the All In Podcast.
He explained that the U.S. government would be consolidating its digital assets into a “crypto stockpile.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, will oversee the portfolio’s management.
The Need to Maximize the Value of Crypto
Notably, the U.S. crypto portfolio will comprise a Bitcoin-only reserve and a stockpile of altcoins. Sacks emphasized the importance of responsible stewardship and portfolio management of the U.S. government’s growing crypto holdings.
He explained that the purpose of the stockpile is safekeeping. “The goal is to maximize the value of [the stockpile] holdings,” Sacks explained.
The move suggests a more proactive and strategic approach to managing the nation’s cryptocurrency assets, including Bitcoin, XRP, and others.
For context, the U.S. government missed out on gaining $17 billion from Bitcoin by failing to maximize its holdings. According to Sacks, the government used to have around 400,000 BTC tokens. However, in the last ten years, it has liquidated over half of the portfolio for just above $350 million.
Meanwhile, had it embraced a long-term vision to hold rather than sell, it could have been sitting on a crypto portfolio worth around $40 billion.
“If we had held all of that, just the portion we sold would be worth over $17 billion,” Sacks pointed out.
Buying More Crypto
Now, the government is seeking to change the earlier short-sighted view with a more progressive approach through the crypto reserve. Under the initiative, the government will prioritize holding earned tokens rather than selling them for quick cash.
Notably, while the U.S. government currently holds approximately 200,000 BTC tokens, it plans to increase its holdings at no extra cost to taxpayers. Industry pundits, including Senator Cynthia Lummis, have suggested the government monetize parts of its gold reserves to purchase Bitcoin.
On the other hand, the government does not plan to buy altcoins. It only intends to maintain holdings of earned altcoins without any effort at direct acquisition.
Maximizing the Value of XRP
Meanwhile, for the government to maximize the value of its potential XRP holdings, it could pursue regulations that benefit XRP and other cryptocurrencies. XRP community figure Yassin Mobarak shared this perspective in a statement.
He argued that with the government’s direct interest in seeing value grow over time, the restrictions that have long hindered XRP’s use in the U.S. could finally be lifted, allowing XRP to serve the utility it was designed for.
“As a result, we could see positive price movements for XRP,” Mobarak said.
It is worth mentioning that the government does not currently hold XRP. However, ongoing discussions in the community suggest that Ripple could gift XRP to the government.
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