White House official: Trump wants to buy more Bitcoin

Author: Sander Lutz Translation: Liam Source: Decrypt

On March 14, at a closed-door roundtable hosted by the Bitcoin Policy Institute on Tuesday, Bo Hines, executive director of the Presidential Digital Asset Task Force, told attendees that the White House intends to acquire as much Bitcoin as possible, according to multiple attendees.

One ​​roundtable attendee told Decrypt that when someone asked how much Bitcoin the U.S. government might eventually acquire, Hines joked that the question was like asking someone how much money they wanted.

A White House official confirmed to Decrypt that Hines did say he wanted to acquire as much Bitcoin as possible, but added that any such acquisitions would be made in a "budget-neutral manner" and would not cost taxpayers a penny.

The public "Bitcoin for America" ​​policy summit was followed by a private roundtable that included heavyweights such as Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor, Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley, and Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey. Also in attendance were three U.S. Senators: Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).

During the roundtable, one attendee asked Beau Hines if the White House supports the Bitcoin Act, a bill that Lummis reintroduced in the Senate on Tuesday that would require the U.S. government to purchase 1 million bitcoins worth about $80 billion and enshrine into law the strategic bitcoin reserve proposed in President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.

After receiving the question, Hines turned to Loomis, who was sitting next to him, and said the White House planned to support legislation to enshrine the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into law and would apply pressure to ensure that legislation passed Congress, according to a roundtable attendee.

A White House official stressed to Decrypt, however, that Hines did not endorse any specific legislation during the event.

The U.S. government is currently estimated to hold nearly 200,000 BTC, acquired through civil and criminal forfeiture. In recent days, senior White House officials have added fuel to the fire, saying they support the government buying more Bitcoin to support the strategic reserve, as long as those acquisitions are "budget neutral."

Whether Loomis’ Bitcoin Act is budget neutral is debatable. The bill would require the U.S. to buy about $80 billion worth of BTC at current prices, but the plan would be implemented primarily by requiring the Fed to turn over revenues, which would theoretically be generated if the central bank revalued its gold certificates at market prices. The certificates were last priced in 1971, when the U.S. abandoned the gold standard. Since then, the value of gold has increased by more than 6,800%.