White House top crypto advisor Patrick Witt and his predecessor in that role had said they will need Congress to fully support the formation and activation of crypto funds. Presidential orders do not carry the weight of law, and no legislation has yet been advanced, although such efforts have been simmering among lawmakers in both the Senate and House, and if Republicans lose their majority in the House or both chambers in this year’s midterm elections, such a bill is unlikely to formalize Trump’s concept any time soon.
Read more: Those who applauded the US Bitcoin reserve have spent a year watching Trump’s order languish
Even if the administration works out the structure of the funds, it is unclear whether they will be able to pull the lever to officially put their bitcoin holdings (estimated at more than 300,000, or about $21 billion) into that virtual vault.
Government bitcoin holdings would be a long-term investment. Trump and his administration have called it a strategic reserve, although it does not fit the usual definition of that phrase, because it must be held for an extended period and not distributed during market emergencies.
When Trump issued the order, he asked his administration to find ways to acquire more bitcoins without using taxpayer money. Several ideas have been floated since then, although if they had started buying the asset when Trump asked for it, they would have bought it at $93,000, and BTC has fallen by about a third since then to the current price just above $64,000.
