Industry executives are reportedly seeking seats on United States President-elect Donald Trump’s highly-anticipated crypto advisory council, which will be responsible for crafting regulatory policy and is expected to help establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve.
According to a Reuters report, Coinbase, Ripple Labs and venture capital firm a16z are among the companies looking to join the council, which may be nestled under the White House’s National Economic Council or operate as a standalone entity.
Speaking at the North American Blockchain Summit on Nov. 21, Bitcoin advocate and co-founder of the Satoshi Action Fund Dennis Porter explained the importance of establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve in the United States:
"A great way for us to protect ourselves from outside influence — undue influence from our foreign adversaries — is to be in the market buying and selling Bitcoin, acting as a shock absorber for all the incredible Bitcoin miners that we have here in this country."
Porter continued by comparing the establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the US government’s acquisition of Alaska in 1867 — a point previously made by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
“We bought these things for pennies on the dollar,” Porter said, adding that the US has a similar option today in adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset before other countries beat it to the punch.
US government assets and liabilities. Source: United States Treasury Department
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The race is on for a Bitcoin strategic reserve
Senator Cynthia Lummis — who introduced the Bitcoin strategic reserve bill to the Senate earlier in 2024 — recently argued that the Treasury Department should convert some of its gold to Bitcoin to seed the strategic reserve with assets.
Pro-Bitcoin investor and asset manager Anthony Pompliano said that the Bitcoin race between sovereign powers is underway in a Nov. 16 appearance on Yahoo Finance, and urged the US government to “get as much Bitcoin onto the balance sheet as possible.”
Still, not all industry participants are optimistic about a Bitcoin strategic reserve being established under the incoming Trump administration.
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that a Bitcoin strategic reserve is unlikely under a Trump administration, while also predicting a $500,000 Bitcoin price tag if the strategic reserve is founded in the near term.
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