A White House official told a group of crypto industry leaders this week that the Trump administration is determined to acquire as much Bitcoin as possible.
During a closed-door roundtable hosted by the Bitcoin Policy Institute on Tuesday, Bo Hines, executive director of the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets, stated that the White House aims to accumulate as much Bitcoin as it can, according to multiple attendees.
When asked how much Bitcoin the U.S. government might ultimately acquire, Hines reportedly joked that the question was similar to asking how many dollars someone would want, according to a roundtable participant who spoke to Decrypt.
A White House official later confirmed to Decrypt that Hines had indeed made the statement about acquiring Bitcoin. However, they added that any purchases would be made “in a budget-neutral way that doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.”
The private roundtable followed the public “Bitcoin for America” policy summit and included key Bitcoin industry figures such as MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor, Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley, and Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey. Additionally, U.S. senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH) were in attendance.
At one point, a participant asked Hines whether the White House supports the Bitcoin Act, a bill reintroduced by Lummis on Tuesday that proposes the U.S. government purchase up to one million BTC—worth approximately $80 billion—and legally establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve created under President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.
In response, Hines turned to Lummis, seated beside him, and stated that the White House plans to support legislation enshrining the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into law. He also noted that the administration would apply pressure to ensure its passage through Congress, according to one attendee.
However, a White House official clarified to Decrypt that Hines did not endorse any specific legislation during the event.
Currently, the U.S. government is estimated to hold nearly 200,000 BTC, primarily acquired through civil and criminal forfeitures. Senior White House officials have recently emphasized their support for expanding the government’s Bitcoin holdings to strengthen a strategic reserve, provided the acquisitions remain budget-neutral.
Whether Lummis’ Bitcoin Act meets this budget-neutral criterion remains debated. The bill proposes that the U.S. purchase around $80 billion worth of Bitcoin, primarily by compelling the Federal Reserve to transfer revenues that could be generated if the central bank revalues its gold certificates at market prices. These certificates have not been adjusted since 1971, when the U.S. left the gold standard. Since then, gold’s value has surged by over 6,800%.