On March 6, the White House disclosed a document showing that the US government sold 195,000 of its bitcoins in the early days, making a profit of about $366 million, which is more than $17 billion at the current market price. Therefore, this major mistake prompted President Trump’s administration to adopt a new strategy for the remaining bitcoins.
David Sacks, the head of the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency affairs, posted on the X platform: “In the past decade, the US government has sold about 195,000 bitcoins and earned $366 million. If these bitcoins were not sold, they would now be worth more than $17 billion.” David Sacks emphasized that the lack of a long-term cryptocurrency strategy is a major failure of US fiscal policy.
On March 7, at the first White House Crypto Summit, President Trump harshly criticized previous crypto policies: “The U.S. government foolishly sold billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, most of which occurred during the Biden administration.” He finally made it clear: “From today, the United States will follow a rule that every Bitcoin holder knows well: never sell your Bitcoin.”
Subsequently, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order requiring the United States to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Program, which requires the United States to never sell its Bitcoin holdings in order to preserve and expand the country’s crypto asset reserves for a long time. The Trump administration said that this policy is a correction to the short-sighted strategies of previous governments, especially Biden’s administration.
The establishment of the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve marks a new turning point in the U.S. government’s approach to digital assets. This not only shows that the U.S. government is increasingly aware of the investment value of Bitcoin, but also its strategic significance as a national sovereign asset. Officials said that the strategic reserve can be used as a financial hedging tool and symbolizes the United States’ technological reserves in the digital age.
