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March 6, 2025

Treasury Department establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under Executive Order

U.s. Department of the Treasury
U.s. Department of the Treasury
morningconsult.com
SCOTUSblog
Tax Foundation
+5

Trump creates federal bitcoin stockpile as first crypto strategic reserve

Executive Order 14290 was signed on Feb. 28, 2025, directing the Department of the Treasury to accumulate up to 200,000 BTC by 2027 (Reuters; EO text)

A Treasury press release dated Mar. 1, 2025 specifies Fireblocks’ multi-signature MPC custody solution using a 3-of-5 Shamir Secret Sharing threshold (Treasury; Fireblocks blog)

A Morning Consult poll conducted Mar. 5, 2025 found that 62 percent of GOP voters support the U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve (Morning Consult)

Section 4(b) of Executive Order 14290 exempts unrealized gains on reserve Bitcoin from federal taxation (Tax Foundation memo)

The FDIC’s Financial Institution Letter FIL-25015 assigns a 50 percent risk-weight to reserve Bitcoin for leverage-ratio purposes (FDIC letter)

Prior to Bitcoin, the last U.S. strategic commodity added was helium in 1981 to the Strategic Materials Reserve (DOE history)

🏛️Government💰Economy💡Technology

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People, bills, and sources

Donald J. Trump (President of the United States)

signed Executive Order 14290 on Feb. 28, 2025 (EO text)

Sergei Lavrov (Finance Minister of Russia)

characterized the move as “weaponizing crypto reserves” (FT)

Gary Gensler (Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

warned that government sponsorship could trigger classification of Bitcoin as a security (SEC speech)

What you can do

1

Review the full text of Executive Order 14290 at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2025/02/28/eo-14290/ to verify the 200,000 BTC accumulation ceiling and examine Section 4(b) on tax treatment

2

Visit https://www.cboe.com/news/2025/03/04/cboe-btc-reserve-index to access details or trade Q3 futures linked to the U.S. strategic Bitcoin Reserve index

3

Consult the Treasury’s cryptocurrency FAQ at https://home.treasury.gov/crypto/faq for official guidance on the 100 percent carbon-free energy requirement for replenishment mining

4

Read the SEC Chair’s remarks on Bitcoin Reserve classification risks at https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/gensler-btc-reserve to understand potential regulatory shifts

5

Examine FDIC Financial Institution Letter FIL-25015 at https://www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2025/fil25015.html for leverage-ratio implications of holding reserve Bitcoin