Bitcoin as a Strategic Reserve

Over the weekend, former US President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump and a number of lawmakers spoke at the Bitcoin Nashville conference. The big news everyone was talking about was Trump and Senator Cynthia Lummis’ proposal to create a strategic reserve for bitcoin. Senator Tim Scott also entered the crypto debate.

Lawmakers and Donald Trump, who hopes to win the presidency again this November, appeared as speakers at the Bitcoin Nashville conference in an attempt to garner votes and financial support from BTC holders.

Why is it important?

This is the first major US election where crypto has gained traction from lawmakers and candidates. While it’s still not entirely clear whether there really is a significant crypto constituency, what is clear is that lawmakers will continue to appeal to this crowd over the next few months.

Details

Former President Donald Trump said he would work to appoint friendlier regulators if elected, but his biggest promise was a proposal that the U.S. would create a strategic bitcoin stockpile.

“If elected, I am announcing that it will be the policy of my administration and the policy of the United States of America to retain 100% of all bitcoins that the United States government currently holds or acquires in the future. We will retain 100%,” Trump said. “I hope everything works out the way we want it to. In fact, this will serve as the foundation for the strategic national bitcoin reserve.”

The former president also acknowledged that “most of the bitcoin currently held by the United States government was obtained through law enforcement.”

“You know they took these bitcoins from you. Let’s take that authority from them. Let’s convert all their assets into bitcoins. The reason your bitcoins were taken is because everything is moving towards his rise. I am taking steps to turn this great wealth into a permanent national asset to benefit all Americans,” he said.

The proposals from both Trump and Lummis still leave some questions unanswered at this point, but if Trump wins the presidency again (and/or the Republicans become the majority party in the Senate), he is likely to be much friendlier to the industry than he was during his first term, when he was very hostile.

As CoinDesk writer Jesse Hamilton reported, the event also marked Senator Tim Scott’s (RSC) first foray into the crypto community. Scott, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, would become the committee’s chairman if the GOP retakes the Senate. As such, he would be responsible for legislation that could impact the Securities and Exchange Commission and crypto regulation more broadly. It’s worth noting, however, that Scott didn’t offer any specific ideas during his speech.

With the U.S. House on recess and the Senate closed, we’re in for a pretty quiet week.