U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Established by Executive Order, No Open Market Purchases Made Yet
In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the U.S. This directive aimed to treat Bitcoin (BTC) as a strategic reserve asset. However, the order did not mandate the government to purchase Bitcoin using taxpayer funds. Instead, the reserve was primarily capitalized by consolidating Bitcoin already owned by the Treasury through criminal or civil forfeitures. Currently, the U.S. government reportedly holds approximately 328,000 BTC from such seizures. While the order instructed the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to develop strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, it stipulated that these methods must be budget-neutral and impose no incremental cost on taxpayers. This means the administration is exploring ways to increase the reserve without direct open market purchases using public funds. The U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve bill, H.R. 8957, also known as the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) of 2026, was set for consideration by th...
