The $1 Trillion Question: Why Isn’t the U.S. Hoarding Bitcoin Like Digital Gold Yet?

The Federal Reserve prints dollars like confetti—but still won't touch Bitcoin. Here's why America's financial old guard keeps ignoring the world's hardest money.

The petrodollar paradox

While El Salvador mines BTC with volcanoes and China quietly accumulates, the U.S. clings to inflation-prone Treasuries. Treasury yields barely beat CPI, but hey—at least they're 'regulated.'

BlackRock's shadow play

Wall Street's ETF approval circus proved institutional demand—yet the government won't even discuss a crypto reserve. Maybe after the next 20% inflation spike.

The ticking clock

Every BRICS nation exploring CBDCs makes the dollar's dominance shakier. But sure, let's keep stacking those paper IOUs while Satoshi's invention eats the world.

"But I'm very hopeful that after those are completed, we can turn the focus toward the BITCOIN Act and start having a serious discussion about why it's important for the United States to have a diversified reserves balance sheet that includes bitcoin," he said at a recent event in Washington.

Because the market structure and stablecoin bills are on uncertain timelines, despite Trump's earlier ambition to get both done before Congress' lengthy August break, it's unclear how soon the lawmakers will have a window to consider the reserves. Senator Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, put a new September 30 goal on his chamber's potential passage of the crypto market structure bill, but much depends on a House strategy for the two bills that hasn't yet emerged.

Begich spoke of his House efforts as if he's still trying to get them off the ground, asking crypto insiders to help convince their members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill.

Getting more sponsors "sends a signal to committee leadership that this is something that has the potential to pass into law," he said. 

"Having the support of the president is extremely important," Senator Lummis noted. "So I'm hoping we can convince more in Congress to understand the fundamentals of Bitcoin."

While the president was clear that he doesn't want new taxpayer money spent to build crypto reserves, Trump's order called on the administration to find other ways to purchase digital assets. Hines said federal officials are already working on multiple ideas to rake in "digital gold."

"We are certainly keen on the idea of accumulation," he said. "I think we'll begin moving very quickly on that."

The government has routinely been estimated to have about 200,000 bitcoin on-hand, though no further public accounting has yet emerged. The BITCOIN Act pushed by both Lummis and Begich WOULD seek to buy about 5% of the global bitcoin supply — a million coins — over a five-year period, "mirroring the size and scope of gold reserves held by the United States." To do so, it would try to unlock some novel funding approaches to avoid hitting taxpayers.

"There are several mechanisms available for the acquisition of bitcoin," Begich said, including rewriting the rules of the Exchange Stabilization Fund to be able to acquire bitcoin and updating the modern market value of Federal Reserve Gold certificates to leverage into bitcoin purchases.

Begich maintained that the leading digital asset is not just a niche financial instrument but something the government needs to embrace as a mainstay.

"We like to talk about bitcoin as though it's somehow separate from the rest of the economy," he said. "Bitcoin really is becoming an asset class that represents the economy."

One of the conceptual challenges of this digital "strategic reserve" is that the underlying idea for a buy-and-hold government investment means this stockpile isn't actually meant to be a strategic reserve in the traditional sense. Other nationally reserved commodities, such as oil, can be released when the nation has a special need. That's not the plan for bitcoin in the minds of TRUMP and his lawmaker allies.

But as enthusiastic as they are, state lawmakers have jumped ahead of their federal counterparts in setting up state-based reserves. Trump's order seemed to act as a starting gun for efforts across the country to devote public money to crypto investing. As the federal government continues its work, states such as Texas are already building their stockpiles.