BPI’s Bitcoin Manifesto: US Told to ’Build or Be Left Behind’ in Crypto Infrastructure Race

Washington’s dragging its feet—again. The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) just dropped a fiery manifesto demanding the US step up or surrender the future of finance to offshore miners and unregulated exchanges.

No more ’wait-and-see’
: The policy blueprint slams Congress for treating Bitcoin like a speculative toy instead of critical infrastructure. Want to keep the dollar relevant? Start laying digital rails—now.

Wall Street’s hypocrisy watch
: Same banks lobbying against crypto are quietly hoarding BTC futures. Classic.

Bottom line: The US can lead the next monetary revolution... or become a relic holding bags of fiat while the world moves on.

Strategic reserve and capital markets integration

One of the framework’s central recommendations is the establishment of a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), modeled on historical stockpiling of Gold or oil. 

BPI argued that Bitcoin’s scarcity, neutrality, and portability make it a strong hedge against inflation and geopolitical instability, traits required of reserve assets.

The framework also highlighted how the USor Bitcoin-enhanced Treasury bonds, that dedicate a portion of proceeds to bitcoin purchases. BPI modeling suggests this mechanism could lower federal interest costs while strengthening dollar-based assets.

The report endorsed policy updates to foster US-based Bitcoin capital markets to complement the reserve proposal. These include finalizing fair-value accounting standards for bitcoin holdings, approving in-kind spot Bitcoin ETFs, and exempting low-value transactions from capital gains tax.

Legal distinction for non-custodial tools

BPI emphasizes a clear distinction between custodial and non-custodial technology in the legal and innovation domain. 

The report calls for the passage of safe-harbor legislation, such as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, to prevent developers of non-custodial software from being regulated as money transmitters. 

This includes Lightning routing nodes, Chaumian mints, and DeFi protocols. Additionally, the documents urged the Department of Justice to drop current prosecutions against developers of privacy-focused Bitcoin tools.

The report also proposed a unified federal money transmission license to replace state-by-state registration requirements and advocates for a sandbox regime allowing emerging custodial businesses to operate under scaled compliance frameworks.

Energy policy and mining incentives

On the energy front, BPI recommends treating Bitcoin mining as a strategic tool for grid stability and clean energy integration. 

The report encouraged policymakers to recognize Bitcoin mining as a demand-response asset and incentivize methane mitigation through flared gas on-site mining. 

It also recommended a technology-neutral stance in federal energy policy and proposes co-locating mining operations with AI and data center infrastructure to optimize load distribution.

Bitcoin mining is portrayed as a complementary load that can stabilize energy grids, absorb surplus renewable generation, and justify upgrades to transmission capacity. 

BPI positioned mining to drive innovation and investment in US energy markets without preferential treatment or targeted restrictions.