The cryptocurrency industry is lobbying President-elect Donald Trump and incoming administration officials to buy billions of dollars worth of bitcoins for the nation’s cryptocurrency supply, according to reports and policy proposals he has received The New York Times.
Proposals drafted by the Bitcoin Policy Institute for Trump officials say such a stockpile could protect the country from economic instability and spur investment in renewable energy. But what they emphasize the most is that if the US buys bitcoin heavily, it will be able to “hold the line” of the Western-led global order and counter the economic power and geopolitical influence of China.
“Bitcoin can increase the global reach of the dollar network, particularly in emerging markets, where the long arm of China’s digital authoritarianism is seeking to gain strength,” according to the BPI report titled “The US-China Competition ‘Global Economic Realignment’ and Bitcoin as a Tool of American Statecraft,” which was directed specifically at Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary.
After a lengthy review of all the ways the U.S. is falling behind China, the report proposes creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve of 1 million coins and lays out a series of projections on how the U.S. could use the fund for political influence if the currency’s value rose from its current rate of just over $100,000 per bitcoin to between $500,000 and $1.5 million per coin.
AND second BPI policy brief also discusses how a major investment in bitcoin could counter China, but doesn’t limit the list of opponents, saying the US needs to solidify its crypto leadership and global influence “before autocrats and traders in the Middle East and Asia take the initiative.”
BPI maintains that its proposals are not motivated by a desire to enrich existing bitcoin holders.
“The government’s strategic embrace of bitcoin is not rewarding private owners,” the group wrote in one report. “It’s about national interests: preserving US financial leadership, ensuring economic resilience and countering the moves of adversaries. The benefits to bitcoin holders are secondary to the broader goals of securing America’s place in the global financial system.”
The Times reported that BPI’s proposals calling for strategic stocks have been matched by personal lobbying efforts by crypto executives and even Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
Trump presented the idea bitcoin stock while on the campaign trail and promised to make the US a “bitcoin superpower.” He has also nominated cryptocurrency supporters to top government positions, including Paul Atkins, his pick for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last week, the Ministry of Justice got permission sell off $6.5 billion bitcoins he seized from criminals.