POLITICS NEWS – Trump speaks at White House crypto summit, establishes government Bitcoin reserve

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

Trump has reiterated his eagerness to help the crypto industry with friendly legislation and light-touch regulations. Friday’s summit is the latest of a series of actions that Trump’s administration has taken to boost the crypto industry. Notably, that’s included the Securities and Exchange Commission dropping several; enforcement actions against large crypto companies. This includes the leaders who were present at the summit on Friday. 

On Thursday, Trump signed a new executive order that established a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that essentially bars the U.S. government from selling bitcoin. Bitcoin is currently valued at $17 billion. It has been acquired through criminal and civil asset forfeiture. This order also allows the Treasury and Commerce Departments to make up “budget-neutral” plans for the government to acquire additional bitcoin. However, the details and plan as to how these plans might be carried out have not yet been released.