Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
This morning, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Bit strategic reserve and a U.S. digital asset stockpile.
White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks pointed out that over the past decade, the U.S. government has cumulatively sold about 195,000 Bits, earning only $366 million in revenue. If these Bits had been held long-term, their current value would have exceeded $17 billion.
Sacks bluntly stated: "This is the cost of the U.S. taxpayer not having a long-term strategy!"
So how does the crypto strategic reserve work? How will this policy affect the market? Let's take a look at the different interpretations of the market.
Two reserves: one can be actively increased, the other is purely for storage
President Trump's executive order involves two different concepts - the Strategic Reserve and the Digital Asset Stockpile.
Bit Strategic Reserve: Contains only Bit. This reserve will be composed of the approximately 200,000 Bits currently held by the U.S. government, which were seized through criminal or civil forfeiture proceedings. The government will conduct a comprehensive audit of these Bits.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been authorized to explore additional ways to acquire Bit, but on the premise that it does not increase the tax burden on taxpayers.
Digital Asset Stockpile: Involves other digital assets (other than Bit) obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture proceedings, such as ETH, XRP, Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), etc. The Digital Asset Stockpile is specifically managed for these assets.
Core Difference:
- Bit Strategic Reserve: The government may seek budget-neutral ways to additionally acquire Bit.
- Digital Asset Stockpile: The government will not actively purchase these assets, but only manage the digital assets obtained through forfeiture proceedings.
Market Interpretation: Bit plunges in the short term, is it good or bad?
As soon as the news came out, the price of Bit dropped by more than 5% in the short term. Market views are clearly divided, with one side believing this will kick off a global Bit reserve race, which is a long-term positive; the other side believes the policy intensity is lower than expected, and the market is disappointed with it.
The Optimists: This will change everything!
Bitwise Research Head said the real significance of the U.S. establishing a strategic Bit reserve is:
- Other countries will buy Bit;
- Wealth managers have no excuse;
- Financial institutions have no excuse;
- Pension/endowment funds have no excuse;
- Concerns about the U.S. selling Bit disappear;
- The U.S. may buy more Bit;
- The possibility of states buying Bit increases;
- The possibility of the government banning Bit is zero.
"This will change everything. Looking at the big picture, this is just the beginning."
Crypto KOL @bitfool1 likened this move to a "nuclear-level positive":
- The process of moving from the U.S. government holding Bit to countries around the world competing to buy it is a long-term evolution;
- Bit will be established as a global reserve asset similar to gold, and its value will undergo a historic revaluation.
Crypto KOL @0xNing0x proposed another interpretation:
- The establishment of a Bit national reserve is essentially to maintain the hegemony of the U.S. dollar;
- The Trump administration may redesign the rules of the crypto market, incorporating it into the dollar system's bubble adjustment mechanism;
- The market needs to digest the overly optimistic expectations in the short term, but in the long run, the new order of the U.S.-led crypto market may become the core driving force for the next wave of growth.
The Pessimists: The market has been falsified, and short-term expectations have fallen short
Crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong believes: "This is very Trumpian, but also a bit pessimistic." He is concerned that the government holding Bit may become a kind of fiscal strategy, and it is uncertain whether more aggressive measures will be taken in the future.
Capriole Investments CEO Charles Edwards bluntly stated that the market's disappointment stems from:
- The market originally expected the government to actively buy more Bit, but the actual policy did not involve large-scale increases;
- The possibility of the U.S. government directly purchasing Bit by 2025 has been greatly reduced, and the short-term positive impact has not materialized.
There is also an opinion that the U.S. may increase its enforcement against foreign exchanges and large holding institutions to strengthen its control over the market. As the influence of the "Trump effect" on the market gradually fades, the expected policy catalysts are also decreasing, and the crypto industry may enter a new stage. Over the next 1-2 years, with a relatively relaxed regulatory environment, application-layer innovation is expected to usher in more opportunities, and the industry's focus will shift from policy games to actual implementation and growth.
Short-term volatility, long-term impact far-reaching. The U.S. government's recognition of the strategic value of Bit means that the legitimacy, institutionalization process, and global competition of the crypto market have only just begun. This may be a historic turning point, and the real impact will gradually emerge in the coming years.
