02/05 update below. This post was originally published on February 4
Bitcoin and crypto prices have rebounded after U.S. president Donald Trump said the tariff threats between the U.S. and its neighbors Mexico and Canada have been paused for a month—dispelling a “tidal wave of fear” that had gripped markets.
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The bitcoin price has again topped $100,000 per bitcoin, bouncing back from lows of around $91,000 on Monday morning, as traders bet on when exactly bitcoin could flip gold’s $18 trillion market capitalization.
Now, as Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell confirms a Wall Street game-changer, Trump has signed an executive order that instructs the Treasury and Commerce departments to create a sovereign wealth fund within the next year, sparking speculation that the fund could be used as a vehicle for U.S. government bitcoin purchases.
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U.S. president Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a U.S. sovereign wealth … [+]
“We’re going to create a lot of wealth for the fund,” Trump told reporters, according to Reuters, adding that it’s “about time that this country had a sovereign wealth fund.”
Trump has previously said a U.S. sovereign wealth fund could be funded by “tariffs and other intelligent things.”
Odds on the crypto-powered Polymarket prediction platform asking, “Will Trump create bitcoin reserve in first 100 days?” have surged, climbing to around 20% from lows of 13% after falling sharply through January.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a vocal supporter of bitcoin who has campaigned for a U.S. bitcoin reserve and written a bill that would see the U.S. buy one million bitcoin over five years, called the announcement a “₿ig deal” on X, using a bitcoin ₿ that hints she believes it could serve as a mechanism for U.S. government bitcoin accumulation.
02/05 update: The bitcoin price dropped back after a hotly-anticipated press conference by U.S. crypto czar David Sacks left traders who had hoped for a bitcoin reserve confirmation disappointed.
Sacks, a tech investor, held his first press conference to announce a bicameral working group tasked with developing crypto regulation focused on stablecoins and market structure and hailing a “golden age” for crypto.
However, when asked by a reporter about plans for a bitcoin reserve, Sacks said it was something the group will be looking at.
“That is one of the first things we’re going to look at as part of the internal working group in the administration,” Sacks said. “We’re still waiting for some cabinet secretaries on the working group to be confirmed. But once that’s in place, one of our first steps will be assessing the feasibility of a bitcoin reserve.”
Meanwhile, bitcoin and crypto analysts are feeling increasingly bullish as the Trump administration’s plans for bitcoin and crypto trickle out.
“Although the near-term remains choppy for bitcoin the long-term is becoming clearer by the day,” Geoff Kendrick, head of crypto research at Standard Chartered Bank, said in emailed comments.
“For me, the only things that really matter long-term are investor access and bitcoin volatility. Access is improving under the Trump administration. Institutional inflows will continue to gather pace. And volatility will gradually come lower as the quality of flows improves and other infrastructure (e.g. options markets) expand.”
According to Kendrick, “this combination (more access, lower volatility) is enough to drive bitcoin to $500,000 before Trump leaves office” in 2029, something that would give bitcoin a market capitalization of $10 trillion.
Meanwhile, president Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks will host a press conference on Tuesday on how the U.S. will secure its position as the world leader in crypto.
When signing the order Trump, self-described as “the first crypto president,” was flanked by his Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who has indicated an interest in bitcoin and crypto, and Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick—who has “hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure” to bitcoin.
“It will be billions,” Lutnick, who managed the assets for the $140 billion USDT stablecoin issuer Tether through Cantor Fitzgerald, said before Trump’s election victory. “Bitcoin, which is rare and is special, will become ever more rare, ever more valuable, over time it’ll be financed just like gold [and] oil. Bitcoin will be way, way, way higher—sometimes lower—you just have to have faith.”
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The bitcoin price has surged since Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory, climbing as … [+]
Meanwhile, Lutnick won’t say whether he’ll recuse himself from a new White House cryptocurrency task force, Politico reported, despite acknowledging he maintains ties to Tether.
“We’re going to monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people,” Bessent told reporters. “There’ll be a combination of liquid assets, assets that we have in this country as we work to bring them out for the American people.”
