A Democrat lawmaker has opposed US President Donald Trump’s plan to increase the government’s Bitcoin holdings by creating a strategic reserve. House Rep. Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia urged the US Department of the Treasury to halt the proposed Bitcoin reserve , suggesting that Trump has a conflict of interest in pushing for it. Lawmaker: Stop BTC Reserve Connolly wrote a letter to US Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging the Secretary to “cease all attempts” that push for the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, claiming that it will only enrich Trump and his allies. “The creation of a strategic cryptocurrency reserve is poised to enrich the President and his closest allies at the expense of American taxpayers,” Connolly said. “I urge you to cease all plans to create a strategic cryptocurrency reserve.” The Virginia lawmaker criticized the cryptocurrency proposal because only Trump and his donors will benefit from it. Rep. Connolly urges U.S. Treasury to scrap plans for strategic crypto reserve Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on March 13, urging the department to halt plans for establishing a strategic crypto reserve. According to a press… — CoinNess Global (@CoinnessGL) March 14, 2025 Major Crypto Holders Connolly said that Trump, his family, and his closest allies are owners of cryptocurrencies, citing that the President’s family owned The Trump Organization, which maintains “significant ownership in World Liberty Financial.” The lawmaker described it as a cryptocurrency venture that “aspires to be a sort of digital asset bank, where customers will be encouraged to borrow, lend and invest in digital coins” with even the President claiming World Liberty Financial as “the future of finance.” He added that the President’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., have advocated several cryptocurrencies, pointing out the connection between the Trump family and cryptocurrencies. The Democrat legislator mentioned that the American President even introduced a new meme coin in January called TRUMP , saying, “Entities related to President Trump have reportedly made as much as $100 million in trading fees alone for this venture, which has been called his “most lucrative get-rich scheme yet.” He noted that a crypto strategic reserve has “no discernible benefit to the American people.” Unsound Fiscal Policy? Connolly argued that the Bitcoin reserve is an “unsound fiscal policy” because the selection of winning currencies will be done through social media, adding that it will only waste “taxpayer dollars on a plan that one federal reserve official described as ‘the dumbest idea’ ever.” “The United States has historically, through acts of Congress, created reserves of certain commodities of strategic value, such as petroleum, particularly during times of economic crisis. However, no strategic need has arisen that would necessitate investment in the volatile and speculative cryptocurrency market,” the lawmaker said. He described the Bitcoin reserve as “nothing more than a highly speculative taxpayer-backed hedge,” saying that if crypto crashes, “the State will deploy this fund to rescue it.” Featured image from The Independent, chart from TradingView
