Cynthia Lummis Announces U.S. ‘Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’ After Trump Win

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has asserted that the U.S. government will follow through with creating a government-owned stockpile of Bitcoin.

On Nov. 6, Lummis tweeted “We are going to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve” in all capitals.

On July 31, Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act of 2024. The bill outlined a plan to purchase up to 200,000 BTC annually to build a Bitcoin stockpile of up to 1 million BTC. The assets would be held for a minimum of 20 years.

Lummis’s tweet suggests that Donald Trump, who was elected as the 47th president of the United States on Nov. 6, is also in favor of stockpiling BTC for a strategic reserve.

In July, Trump promised that if elected, his administration would never sell off the U.S. government’s Bitcoin holdings during the Bitcoin2024 conference in Nashville. Trump added that he would create “a strategic national Bitcoin reserve.”

"If elected, it will be the policy of my administration to keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future," Trump said to a cheering crowd. “For too long, our government has violated the cardinal rule that every Bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your Bitcoin.”

It is unclear whether Lummis’s tweet indicates Trump’s support for her BITCOIN Act, or if the president-elect plans to allocate the U.S. government’s existing BTC holdings to the strategic Bitcoin reserve.

The offices of Lummis and Trump did not respond to The Defiant’s request for comment on plans to incorporate Bitcoin into a strategic national reserve.

The U.S. government currently holds approximately 212,847 BTC valued at around $15 billion, according to data from Arkham Intelligence. The stash makes up roughly 1% of the total Bitcoin supply, which is capped at 21 million coins.

The BTC were accrued through criminal seizures, including 50,676 BTC confiscated from the Silk Road hacker in November 2022, and 94,636 BTC tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

China holds the second-largest stash of Bitcoin among governments, with around 190,000 BTC. China’s BTC were similarly obtained through regulatory action targeting illegal operations, including fraudulent schemes and unlicensed mining activities.

Trump’s crypto promises

In a bid to court crypto-votes, Trump made several pro-crypto promises throughout his campaign.

Trump pledged to fire Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission upon commencing his second term in office. “On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said.

Trump said he would not oversee any government Bitcoin sales, and would introduce a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency regulation.

Trump also pledged to support the domestic Bitcoin mining industry, stating he wants every remaining Bitcoin to be mined within the United States. In June, Trump met with executives from the cryptocurrency mining sector, including representatives from Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, Terawulf, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific.