US President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of a strategic reserve for digital currencies. The move was initially met with disappointment among crypto investors, who had hoped for more. However, experts view the move as positive for Bitcoin in the long term and expect bullish effects.
Last week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a strategic digital currency reserve. This reserve will contain bitcoins that have come into the US’s possession through civil and criminal forfeitures. According to David Sacks, the US government’s digital currency commissioner, this holding amounts to approximately 200,000 bitcoins. The Commerce and Treasury Departments were also given the authority to procure additional bitcoins for the reserve – but only in a budget-neutral manner and at no additional cost to taxpayers.
In addition to the Bitcoin reserve, there will also be a separate US digital asset reserve. This reserve will store other seized cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. According to Sacks, however, the government will not take any active measures to systematically increase these holdings.
Crypto Market Disappointed – Investors Had Probably Expected More
The US government’s announcement led to rather sobering reactions in the crypto market. Many investors had apparently hoped that the government would actively acquire Bitcoin, which could have led to an immediate price increase. Instead, the US reserve is initially limited to repurposing already seized holdings, which disappointed some investors. The Bitcoin price subsequently fell further, having already been under pressure for some time. While the largest cryptocurrency had reached an all-time high of around $109,000 in January 2025, it recently stood at only around $83,000 (as of March 11, 2025).
Investors had hoped that Trump would not only once again position himself as a protector of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, “but also lay the foundation for a symbiosis between the US government and the crypto industry,” said market expert Timo Emden of Emden Research, according to “dpa-AFX.” Charles Edwards of the Bitcoin and digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments was even more scathing: “No active purchases mean this is just a fancy title for Bitcoin holdings that were already held by the government. This is a pig in lipstick,” he wrote on the short message service X.
Experts disagree: US reserve is a bullish signal for Bitcoin
Despite the short-term negative market reaction and critical voices, many experts view the US government’s decision positively. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, described the move to X as “exceptionally bullish for Bitcoin.” “People selling today are forgetting how big the opportunity is,” he continued. Hougan argued that the likelihood of a Bitcoin ban in the US is now minimized and other countries could be motivated to build their own Bitcoin reserves. A short window of opportunity would now open for other countries to “get ahead of” further US purchases, the Bitwise CIO emphasized. The announcement could therefore trigger a global race for Bitcoin.
Ryan Rasmussen, Head of Research at Bitwise, also described the strategic Bitcoin reserve as an important signal that “changes everything”: “Other countries will buy, asset managers no longer have an excuse, financial institutions no longer have an excuse, pensions/foundations no longer have an excuse, the fear of a US sell-off is gone,” he wrote on X. According to “DER AKTIONÄR,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also expects many G20 countries to follow the US example.
Institutional Investors Under Pressure?
The US government’s decision to establish a crypto reserve is likely to have an impact on institutional investors and authorities, according to experts, and will mark a turning point in their assessment of digital currencies. For example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had previously spoken out against investing in Bitcoin. However, with the US leading the way in this area, it will be “significantly more difficult for the IMF and others to portray Bitcoin as somehow dangerous or unsuitable for holding,” Hougan said in one of his X posts.
In a blog post on Bitwise’s website, he also pointed out that the announcement marks the first time the US has designated Bitcoin as a strategic asset. “As long as this remains the case, this seems like a turning point to me,” the crypto expert said. He also assumes that the US will likely no longer sell its crypto holdings once it has been held. “I suspect that any cryptocurrency purchased will be held for a very long time, like US gold. Democratic leaders won’t want to alienate their voters without having a lot of it themselves,” he continued in the blog post.
Overall, according to experts, the US government’s decision to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve could have very positive long-term effects on the crypto market by paving the way for new capital flows. “The psychological shift alone—that governments recognize Bitcoin as a central asset class—could bring a tidal wave of new capital into the market,” says “The Armchair Trader.” If this proves to be true, the US government’s decision could usher in a new era for Bitcoin and propel the cryptocurrency to new heights.
Image by Eivind Pedersen from Pixabay
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