Treasury establishes Bitcoin reserve using DOJ civil forfeiture assets

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 2025-03-06 establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve funded exclusively with cryptocurrency seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases, ensuring no new purchases or taxpayer burden. (Sources: CNBC; Reuters)

As of Mar. 2025, the U.S. government holds more than 207,000 bitcoin, valued at approximately $17 billion. (Source: Global Fintech & Digital Assets Blog)

The BITCOIN Act proposed in Congress would authorize the Treasury Department to acquire up to 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply—about 1 million coins—at an estimated cost of $88 billion. (Source: Global Fintech & Digital Assets Blog)

The executive order directs agency heads to report all bitcoin and other digital assets in their possession to the Secretary of the Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within 30 days. (Source: Global Fintech & Digital Assets Blog)

David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, described the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as "like a digital Fort Knox for cryptocurrency." (Source: Global Fintech & Digital Assets Blog)

Bitcoin’s market price fell by about 5% to $85,000 when the executive order was announced. (Source: Reuters)

Executive Order 14067 of Mar. 9, 2022 (Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets) was revoked by President Trump’s 2025 order. (Source: White House)

Under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, only Congress may appropriate funds and authorize new strategic reserves. (Source: Global Fintech & Digital Assets Blog)

The U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile will include only tokens obtained through forfeiture proceedings; no new deposits will be made. (Source: Reuters)