Trump Explains Government’s Plan To Buy Bitcoin: ‘Who the Hell Knows?’

 

President Donald Trump held the first ever White House cryptocurrency summit on Friday and said the U.S. Treasury will acquire Bitcoin for its crypto “strategic reserve.”

On Thursday, “cryptocurrency czar” David Sacks announced that Trump had signed an executive order to establish a government reserve of Bitcoin. The order directs Bitcoin seized in civil and criminal asset forfeitures to be deposited into the reserve, and it directs the U.S. Treasury to devise “budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin.” Trump also established a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile that will consist of non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies, which will be solely accumulated via asset forfeiture.

The next day, Trump was joined by Sacks and other crypto advocates, where the president outlined his administration’s plan.

“The federal government is among the largest holders of Bitcoin as you know, really, one of the largest holders in the world with as many as 200,000 Bitcoin obtained via civil law and various other forms of law, including enforcement actions,” Trump said, reading from prepared remarks. “These existing holdings will form the foundation of the new reserve.”

The president then criticized the federal government’s previous sales of seized Bitcoin, and announced that the government will never sell its holdings.

“From this day on, America will follow the rule that every Bitcoin knows [sic] very well: never sell your Bitcoin,” he added. “That’s a little phrase that they have. I don’t know if that’s right or not. Who the hell knows, right?”

Those in attendance laughed and clapped.

“Who knows? Who knows? But so far it’s been right, and let’s keep it that way,” he continued. “The Treasury and Commerce departments will explore new pathways to accumulate additional Bitcoin holdings for the reserve, provided it’s done at no cost to the taxpayers.”

Cryptocurrency markets can be notoriously illiquid, meaning it can be difficult to sell large volumes of coins at a given time. A Bitcoin reserve whereby the Treasury is authorized to purchase large amounts of the asset could solve any liquidity issues for holders of Bitcoin who are looking to sell sizable holdings.

Last year, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a bill that would require the Treasury to buy one million Bitcoins over five years while holding them for at least 20.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

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Mike is a Mediaite senior editor who covers the news in primetime. Follow him on Bluesky.