He announced it last week, he held a promise. Donald Trump signed a decree this Thursday, March 6, for the establishment of a “Bitcoins Strategic Reserve”, an important brand of support for the cryptocurrency industry, which generously contributed to the financing of its last presidential campaign. This reserve will be “a kind of Fort Knox Digital” – in reference to the place where the American government stores its gold reserves, a refuge value par excellence -, announced the advisor to Artificial intelligence (AI) and to the cryptocurrencies of the White House, David Sacks, on social networks.
Concretely, the United States already has some 200,000 bitcoins, according to David Sacks, which represents a value of approximately $ 17.5 billion during the current course. These assets come from legal seizures and were not purchased by the United States government. These assets will be transferred to this strategic reserve, where they will be stored for an unlimited period.
The price of Bitcoin has dropped on the stock market after this announcement, the market being disappointed that no public purchasing policy of cryptocurrencies is planned. In a video filmed in the oval office of the White House and during which Donald Trump signed the decree, David Sacks explains that none of these bitcoins will be sold.
Possibility of acquiring additional bitcoins
This public fund is a strong message for the cryptocurrency industry, but much more broadly in the entire financial markets. It provides additional credibility to this active person regularly criticized for its speculative nature and its lack of utility, in particular for exchanges and transactions.
Hostile for a long time for digital currencies, Donald Trump changed a radically position during his last campaign, to the point of proclaiming himself cryptocurrency champion. The industry has returned it to him, contributing for more than $ 100 million to its campaign.
According to the decree, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce will have the opportunity to offer the acquisition of additional bitcoins, as long as it is neutral for the state budget. This would amount to replacing with bitcoins of assets held by the federal state in other forms, conventional currencies (dollars or other) or financial titles. But the decree indicates that the additional bitcoins possibly purchased will not be paid to the strategic reserve, the amount of which will remain unchanged. This decree “underlines President Trump’s commitment to make the United States the ‘World Capital of Cryptos’,” said David Sacks.