US Accelerates Build-Out of Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Infrastructure
Bo Hines, digital asset policy adviser at the White House, confirmed that the United States is actively constructing the infrastructure necessary to support a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. This initiative follows the executive order signed by President Trump on 6 March 2025, which established both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a broader Digital Asset Stockpile. Hines highlighted that federal agencies have completed accounting for Bitcoin holdings, marking a pivotal step in consolidating treasury-held assets and enabling future acquisitions.
Hines explained that although the order does not compel public disclosure of cryptocurrency holdings, the Treasury may choose to publish a report voluntarily. He emphasised the administration's inclination to increase government Bitcoin holdings in a budget-neutral way—likely by reallocating existing seized assets or surplus resources—without burdening taxpayers.
The crack team in Washington, including Hines and figures such as David Sacks, are framing Bitcoin as 'digital gold'. They contend that, like traditional gold reserves, Bitcoin offers a durable store of value with no central issuer, making it strategically significant for national financial security. Experts point out that such an asset could act as a hedge against inflation and strengthen financial sovereignty, though critics warn of its volatility and speculative nature.
ADVERTISEMENT
Infrastructure efforts have focused on establishing systems for secure custody, interagency transfer, and real-time accounting of government-held Bitcoin. Hines noted that laying this groundwork is essential before scaling up acquisitions. These efforts reflect a growing shift from regulatory wariness to strategic embrace of digital assets in U.S. policymaking.
Congress is also moving ahead with supporting legislation. The GENIUS Act, jointly advanced by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Tim Scott, is expected to be introduced before the August recess, while further crypto market structure legislation is targeted for completion by September. Hines pointed to this timeline during a session with the senators, underscoring a coordinated push to regulate and support the digital asset space.
State governments and private corporations have already launched Bitcoin-reserve-like initiatives, but the federal programme marks the first national-level effort. This move may be partly inspired by El Salvador's state-level Bitcoin holding, a model that Hines reportedly examined during conversations with President Nayib Bukele.
Opposition to the federal SBR persists. Economists from the University of Chicago survey unanimously rejected borrowing to acquire crypto assets, citing the speculative nature of Bitcoin. International finance officials—with the European Central Bank in particular—warn that embracing Bitcoin could undermine conventional reserve strategies and monetary stability.
The initiative's long-term success hinges on robust regulatory clarity. The executive order tasked agencies with full crypto asset accounting and mandated that the Treasury explore budget-neutral acquisition strategies, potentially reallocating portions of gold reserves. These moves aim to balance innovation with fiscal prudence.
As infrastructure construction progresses, the Treasury's potential publication of federal Bitcoin holdings could signal a new era of transparency and mainstreaming of digital assets in public balance sheets. For stakeholders across government and finance, the outcomes of legislative drafts in the Senate and House will be watched closely.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
15 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Zohran Mamdani faces racist smears and calls for citizenship to be stripped
Zohran Mamdani is facing a barrage of racist attacks this week and a call by a Republican lawmaker for him to be stripped of his citizenship after his 24 June victory in the New York City primary election for mayor. The pro-Palestinian Democratic Socialist won the Democratic nomination for mayor with a clear majority after 93 percent of the votes were counted. Before his victory, he faced racist attacks from New York City councilwoman Vickie Paladino and Congressman Randy Fine, both from the Republican party, while after the win, Republican Andy Ogles called for Mamdani to be deported and denaturalised. In a post on X on 26 June, Ogles said: "Zohran 'little muhammad' Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.' Ogles also attached a letter to attorney general Pam Bondi, accusing Mamdani of procuring his citizenship through 'willful mirepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The comments drew condemnation from several of Ogle's colleagues, including Democratic Congressman Shri Thanedar and the House Homeland Security Committee Democrats, as well as Muslim American members of Congress. 'This type of racism has no place in America,' Thanedar said in a post on X on 26 June. 'This type of racism has no place in America. Immigrants make our country great, and I strongly condemn this blatant, anti-immigrant bigotry from Andy Ogles'. The House Homeland Security Committee Democrats referred to his comments in a 26 June post on X as 'Racist drivel.' Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Friday posted a statement on X from Muslim American members of Congress condemning Ogle's "anti-Muslim" attacks. "The vile, anti-Muslim and racists smears from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle attacking Zohran Mamdani cannot be met with silence," the statement read. The statement was signed on to by Tlaib, Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Lateefah Simon, and Congressman Andre Carson. Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at the civil rights and advocacy organisation Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) told Middle East Eye that the attacks on Mamdani were part of an entrenched decades-long perspective on Muslims: 'The anti-Muslim bigotry that has erupted online in the wake of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary is as dishonest as it is dangerous." Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani fends off hate as he inspires New Yorkers Read More » He added that it was 'nothing new' to the American-Muslim community. 'The politicians, influencers and hate groups unleashing a wave of irrational Islamophobic talking points are weaponising the same tactics that have been used for decades to manipulate Americans into fearing any Muslims engaged in political life,' he added. 'Islamophobia is the last widely accepted form of bigotry in American political life, and this must change before it leads to more discrimination and threats of violence against American Muslims pursuing public office". But it wasn't just lawmakers who have been targeting Mamdani since his victory. Stephen Miller, the White House assistant chief of staff, who is frequently referred to as the architect behind Trump's immigration policies, alluded to Mamdani in a post on X on 25 June, saying that 'NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration'. Miller himself is the grandson of a Jewish immigrant who fled religious persecution from modern-day Belarus to the United States. Prior to his election success, Mamdani had already been the target of a smear campaign that painted him as an antisemite, funded to the tune of $25m by a Super PAC called "Fix the City". He even faced death threats, with his office receiving voicemails including a threat to blow up his car. Mamdani teared up when speaking of the impact of such attacks during his campaign, saying he had received a message saying, 'The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim'. Mamdani is an Indian-origin Muslim who moved from Uganda to New York City when he was seven years old and became a naturalised citizen in 2018.
Al Etihad
16 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Trump cuts off US trade talks with Canada, shattering optimism over tariff deals
28 June 2025 00:22 WASHINGTON (Reuters)US President Donald Trump abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada on Friday over its new tax targeting US technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack" and stating that he would impose a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next move, which plunges US relations with its second-largest trading partner back into chaos after a period of relative calm, came just hours after Trump's Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, struck an upbeat tone on also follows a June 19 announcement by Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne that Canada would not pause its longstanding plans to implement a digital services tax starting June 30 on US technology firms including Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple, among in a post on his Truth social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with.""Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven-day period."Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, buying $349.4 billion of US goods last year and exporting $412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau Carney, Canadian Prime Minister, said on June 16 that he had agreed with Trump that their two nations should try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days. Earlier on Friday, Bessent said the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the Sept. 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 top trade partners and another revision to a deal with China to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals and magnet
Al Etihad
17 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Wall Street indexes hit fresh peaks on trade, Fed cut optimism
27 June 2025 22:54 (REUTER) Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to intraday record highs as investors pinned their hopes on deeper interest-rate cuts and the US striking deals with its biggest trading S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) both rose more than 0.5%, surpassing their previous peaks touched in February and December, respectively. The Nasdaq looked on course to confirm a bull market, having recovered more than 20% from a trough in April."I think the driver for that momentum is the dissipation of concerns over the magnitude of tariffs. That was the biggest concern in the early April time frame and I think that headwind seems to be dissipating a bit," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley to the upbeat sentiment, Washington reached an agreement with China on expediting rare-earth shipments to the United States, a White House official said, days ahead of the July 9 deadline for US President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration's trade deals with other countries could be done by Labor Day, citing the country's 18 main trading are focusing on the interest-rate trajectory after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump toyed with the idea of announcing US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's replacement by September or on Friday showed US consumer spending fell unexpectedly in May as the boost from consumers preemptively buying goods such as motor vehicles ahead of tariffs faded, while monthly inflation rose moderately, supporting bets for rate now price in a 20.7% chance of a rate cut in July, compared with 14.5% last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch 11:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 403.09 points, or 0.93%, to 43,789.88, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 36.14 points, or 0.58%, to 6,177.16, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 108.05 points, or 0.54%, to 20, of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose. Energy stocks were the only laggards, falling 0.5%.Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O), the world's most valuable company, rose 1.8% to touch a record high, while other tech heavyweights including (AMZN.O) and Apple (AAPL.O) added 1.1% and 0.2%, benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) were on track for their best weekly performance in more than a month, while the blue-chip Dow (.DJI) was set for a weekly advance if gains Global Wealth Management raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,200 from its prior forecast of 6,000, banking on softening trade (NKE.N) shares jumped 15.8% after it forecast a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O) rose 1.6% after Nike's results, while Hoka-owner Deckers Outdoor (DECK.N) added 2.7%.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 34 new lows.
