The U.S. president, Donald Trump, signed a directive on Thursday to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve. This was a day prior to his meeting at the White House with representatives of the cryptocurrency industry.
David Sacks (the White House’s crypto czar) said that the reserve would be funded with bitcoins owned by the federal government and forfeited in criminal or civil asset forfeiture cases.
The White House Crypto Summit on Friday is expected to be a platform for Trump to announce his plans to create a strategic reserve that includes Bitcoin and four other cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this week, Trump announced the names of five digital assets he expects to include in this reserve, spiking the market value of each. The five are bitcoin, ether, XRP, solana, and cardano, the president said.
It’s not clear how a reserve like this would function or what the benefits would be to taxpayers.
Some conservatives and crypto supporters are concerned about Trump’s support for the crypto industry. The industry spent millions of dollars supporting him and other Republicans during the November election. They also worry that the industry will be delegitimized by giving away money to a wealthy group.
The supporters of a crypto reserve argue that it would allow taxpayers to benefit from the price increase.
Conflicts of interest have also been raised by the president’s support of the crypto industry. Trump’s family launched cryptocurrency meme coins, and the president holds a stake at World Liberty Financial, which is a crypto platform.
Trump’s aides claim that he has given up control of his businesses, which are currently being examined by ethics lawyers.
