Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile: What’s the Difference?

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile, fulfilling one of his biggest campaign promises to the crypto community.  

Under the executive order, the U.S. Treasury will hold Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil forfeitures in a strategic BTC reserve. The directive also opens the door to the government potentially acquiring more Bitcoin on the open market, as well as through transfers from federal agencies that hold the token.

“The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, provided that those strategies impose no incremental costs on American taxpayers,” the executive order reads.

The U.S. Digital Assets Stockpile—a separate entity—will consist of a variety of altcoins seized through forfeitures alone, with federal agencies fully accounting for the stockpile’s tokens. The federal government might sell some of the assets in its stockpile, pending approval from the Treasury Secretary. 

“This move harnesses the power of digital assets for national prosperity, rather than letting them languish in limbo,” the order reads. 

President Trump, who called Bitcoin a “scam” just four years ago, refashioned himself into an unlikely cheerleader for digital assets in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, inspiring much of the cash-flush crypto industry to rally behind him.

As part of his efforts to court the crypto crowd, Trump promised to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, ban central bank digital currencies or CBDCs, protect the interests of Bitcoin miners, and make the U.S. a leader in blockchain innovation. 

Trump’s executive order marks his fulfillment of one of those campaign promises, and is billed as a step toward making the U.S the “crypto capital of the world.” The directive comes amid a cryptocurrency market swoon, and at a time when Bitcoin is trading more than 20% below its all-time-high price that was set in January, CoinGecko data shows.

The executive order seeks to centralize control of the U.S. government’s crypto assets, it reads, as well as provide clear definitions for the separate reserve and stockpile.

“Currently, no clear policy exists for managing these assets, leading to a lack of accountability and inadequate exploration of options to centralize, secure, or maximize their value,” the executive order reads.

Until now, there had been little consensus among lawmakers over what constituted a “strategic reserve” versus a “stockpile,” and whether either would hold Bitcoin, altcoins, or a combination of both assets. Ideas for both stashes have swirled on Capitol Hill for the past few months.

Trump’s latest directive, however, clarifies the difference between the two stashes. And although the reserve and stockpile hold dissimilar assets, they serve at least one of the same functions. 

Establishing the crypto stashes, “will ensure proper oversight, accurate tracking, and a cohesive approach to managing the government’s cryptocurrency holdings,” the executive order reads.

Edited by Andrew Hayward