While speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York on 18 March 2025, Bo Hines, US President Donald Trump’s Executive Director on Digital Assets likened Bitcoin to Gold. 

Hines announced that the administration intends to acquire “as much Bitcoin as we can get.”

“We look at Bitcoin—it’s not a security; it’s a commodity,” he said. “It has intrinsic store of value, it’s traditionally accepted. It has the immaculate conception as there is no issuer. That’s why in the executive order, we compared it to digital gold.”

Strategy Founder and Chairman Michael Saylor has shown support for Hines’ comments on acquiring more Bitcoin on X. Interestingly, Saylor announced a $500m stock sale to buy more Bitcoin today, 19 March 2025.

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Trump Kept His Promise On Crypto Reserve: Hines

Hines insisted that Trump fulfilled his cryptocurrency-related campaign pledges timely. On 6 March 2025 Trump signed an executive order establishing a crypto reserve that includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana and Cardano. According to Hines, the executive order represents a direct fulfilment of Trump’s campaign promises to the Bitcoin community. During his campaign, Trump had also pledged to fire then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Both promises to the crypto community have now been realized. 

Hines also said that US has to continue to build on the Bitcoin reserve. Talking about the importance of US accumulating assets, he said, “We are looking forward to working with our partners at Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce in order to define those budget-neutral ways in which we can acquire more.” Did Hines indicate active collaboration between government departments to develop acquisition strategies?

Currently, the US has 198,109 BTC and the UK has 61,245 BTC. Interestingly, post a recent state sponsored crypto heist, the North Korean government currently owns a whopping 13,562 Bitcoins.

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“Budget-Neutral” Means To Purchase Bitcoin

According to Trump’s executive order, the government will not actively purchase additional tokens for its general crypto stockpile. Instead, this reserve will consist solely of assets already in government possession through confiscations and forfeitures.

While the executive order specifies that the government will only use “budget-neutral” means to purchase Bitcoin for the strategic Bitcoin reserve, Hines clarified that this doesn’t indicate a lack of commitment to building substantial reserves.

In fact, he emphasized that the primary objective is to reverse the previous administration’s approach of liquidating Bitcoin holdings—a strategy that reportedly resulted in over $17 billion in losses.

When questioned about the target size for the government’s Bitcoin holdings, Hines offered a straightforward response that reveals the administration’s ambitious vision. He compared the question to asking a country how much gold it would like to possess. 

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Key Takeaways

  • The US government’s pivot from liquidating Bitcoin holdings to actively accumulating them marks a critical shift. 

  • Currently, the US has 198,109 BTC and the UK has 61,245 BTC. Interestingly, post a recent state sponsored crypto heist, the North Korean government currently owns a whopping 13,562 Bitcoins.

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Akriti Seth
Akriti Seth
Senior Editor

Akriti Seth is a Zurich-based Business Journalist and Crypto Editor. Her passion for journalism has taken her across the globe – from thriving as an on-television correspondent to writing engaging articles, she has worked for companies like Informa UK, Bloomberg... Read More

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