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A bitcoin reserve with caveats

Bitcoiners finally got their wish. 

The US government has officially recognized the world’s largest cryptocurrency as a strategic asset. 

…but then the price dropped after the announcement.

Late Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a US strategic bitcoin reserve.

At first glance, the move marks the most significant institutional endorsement of the asset to date — it cements bitcoin as a store of value, places it squarely in government coffers, and makes a clear distinction between bitcoin and other tokens. 

Long-term, it sets a precedent for other countries to follow. In that sense the tailwind is clear. 

The details beneath the headline explain why markets reacted with a whimper. 

White House Crypto Czar David Sacks said the reserve will be funded exclusively with bitcoin seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases. 

“The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks wrote on X. 

Translation: The US won’t be buying bitcoin — only confiscating it.

The order also prohibits the government from selling bitcoin from the reserve, which in theory reinforces the scarcity narrative. Estimates suggest the US holds about 200,000 bitcoins right now. 

Those ideas together make the US a curious type of market participant — it’s passively accumulating without buying, and appreciating without plans to take profits. 

Compare that to central banks, which actively manage their gold holdings, and the bitcoin reserve starts to look less like a high-conviction bet and more like an administrative capitulation. 

Now, despite the initial “sell the news” response, these developments are undeniably bullish in the long term. But because the US hasn’t signaled any intent to buy bitcoin on the open market, the questions that come to mind are tied to enforcement and control rather than adoption and confidence. 

That uncertainty may be why the market’s first reaction wasn’t to celebrate.

Market snapshot:

Elsewhere:

📊 US unemployment rate is seen hitting 4.0% in February. That’s the median estimate for the jobs report, according to FactSet. That would match the previous month, and be slightly below the trailing 12-month average of 4.1%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release this number, as well as the non-farm payrolls data, this morning. (FactSet)

📉 The S&P 500 is breaking down. The market benchmark tumbled again Thursday and tested its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2023. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq entered correction territory. Stocks rallied overnight, however, and futures turned green. (CNBC)

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📰 I’m Phil Rosen, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Opening Bell Daily. I’ve published books, lived on three continents, and won awards for my journalism, which has appeared in Business Insider, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg and Inc. Magazine.

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