The new Donald Trump administration wants to buy as much Bitcoin as possible, at least according to a White House official. Speaking at a panel at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit in New York, Bo Hines, the executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, told participants the White House intends to acquire as much of the flagship crypto as it can through budget-neutral methods. No Limit To The Size Of A U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bo Hines revealed that the Donald Trump administration views Bitcoin as a commodity and not a security, stressing its intrinsic store of value and unique attributes. “Bitcoin, it’s not a security, it’s a commodity. It has intrinsic stored value; it’s traditionally accepted. It has, as David likes to describe, the immaculate conception. There’s no issuer,” he stated. Hanes’s comments come after President Trump signed a long-awaited executive order earlier this month establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which will initially be made up of no newly purchased BTC; only coins forfeited in government criminal cases. “The President was adamant about creating the SBR. We wanted to make sure that we did it right in a way that respected Bitcoin for being so unique and also gave credence to innovation and other spaces in the digital asset world,” Hines opined. When asked exactly how much Bitcoin the U.S. government might ultimately acquire for the reserve, Hines joked the question was akin to asking a country how much gold it wants. “That’s like asking a country, how much gold do you want? Right? I mean, as much as we can get,” Trump’s crypto council head posited. Budget-Neutral Bitcoin Acquisition Strategies However, Hines added the caveat that any such BTC purchases would be made “in a budget-neutral way” without burdening taxpayers. Hanes revealed that the Crypto Council is working with the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to establish viable Bitcoin acquisition strategies. It is currently estimated the U.S. government holds almost 200,000 BTC, acquired primarily through civil and criminal forfeitures. Meanwhile, Senior White House officials have pushed the envelope in recent days, suggesting the government plans to acquire additional Bitcoin to support a strategic reserve, so long as those acquisitions are budget neutral . Along those lines, it’s questionable whether Senator Cynthia Lummis’ recently reintroduced BITCOIN Act can be considered budget-neutral. The bill calls for the U.S. to acquire in excess of 1 million BTC, worth approximately $82 billion at current prices.
