Leaders in crypto are lobbying President-Elect Donald Trump to create a national bitcoin reserve, as the value of bitcoin reaches for US$100,000/USD.
The Washington Post reports the principal aim for crypto leaders is for the US Federal government to buy bitcoin tokens worth billions of dollars, hold them for decades in the hope their value will increase significantly, and then they can be used to help pay the national debt.
And, of course, such an alignment of government and crypto would boost support and investment in the technology.
The US already holds approximately US$20billion worth of cryptocurrencies, mostly seized through law enforcement seizures.
Trump expressed support for crypto on the election campaign and pledged to create a national stockpile from these tokens, but has not gone so far as to promise a federal bitcoin reserve.
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future”
— President Donald Trump said
“If you’re not going to be storing this asset, [which] is essentially digital gold, then your adversaries are going to find opportunities to monetize it” said Cody Carbone, the president of the Digital Chamber, a lobbying group for the industry. He said a strategic reserve “sets us up for massive financial success.”
Not everyone, however, agrees:
“There’s just no discernible logic to do it… I get why the crypto investor would love it. Other than the crypto investor, I don’t see the value, particularly if taxpayers have to ante up,” Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told the Washington Post.
In the meantime, a variety of large crypto companies — including Ripple, Kraken and Circle — are jostling for a seat on President-elect Donald Trump’s promised crypto advisory council, seeking a say in his planned overhaul of US policy, according to Reuters.
Our latest analysis on the crypto experiment with a digital commodity: