Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Politics, US News, News, Donald Trump
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Politics, US News, News, Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has unveiled his new plans regarding cryptocurrency.
Trump wants to make the US the crypto capital of the world, and this new executive order may just help him achieve such a huge feat.
Titled 'Establishment of the Stategic Bitcoin Reserve and United State Digital Asset Stockpile', the order — signed yesterday (March 6) — states that having a stockpile of Bitcoin in particular creates a 'strategic advantage' for America.
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"The United States Government currently holds a significant amount of BTC, but has not implemented a policy to maximize BTC’s strategic position as a unique store of value in the global financial system," the order goes on.
"Just as it is in our country’s interest to thoughtfully manage national ownership and control of any other resource, our Nation must harness, not limit, the power of digital assets for our prosperity."
While the order doesn't state how much Bitcoin the US allegedly has, White House Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks says that the government owns 200,000 coins. The market rate (at the time of writing), puts Bitcoin at over $90,000 USD per coin, meaning that America has around $18 billion worth of the popular cryptocurrency, which is often referred to as 'digital gold'.
Sacks does note that there's never been an official audit, however, and added: "The [executive order] directs a full accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings."
As to where this large sum of coins that's in the newly-created reserve came from, Sacks says they were 'forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings'.
While it reserve is currently worth around $18 billion, apparently the government has no plans to sell it and it will be 'kept as a store of value'.
And it's not just Bitcoin that Trump's new executive order looks at, but other types of crypto as well.
In addition to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, there will now be a United States Digital Asset Stockpile that will be managed by the Treasury Department. The stockpile will 'serve as a secure account for orderly and strategic management of the United States’ other digital asset holdings', as per the order.
Like the Bitcoin Reserve, this crypto reservoir will also be from digital assets forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings.
The signing of the order comes ahead of today's first ever crypto summit at the White House (March 7).
Industry leaders will be in attendance, with the proceedings starting at 1:30pm ET.