Aniket Pujari
U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds plans to introduce a bill to ensure President Donald Trump’s executive order that establishes a strategic Bitcoin reserve cannot be overturned by future presidents.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, Donalds’ bill aims to protect the executive order to establish a national strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve and U.S. digital asset stockpile from being eliminated by executive policies or decisions of future American presidents. Therefore, the bill serves to “codify” the executive order signed on March 7.
“For years, the Democrats waged war on crypto. Now is the time for Congressional Republicans to decisively end this war,” said the Florida Republican. Donalds himself has been known to embrace crypto as he prepares to run for Florida governor in the upcoming election.
In order to pass, the bill would require 60 votes from the Senate and a majority vote in the House of Representatives. Trump’s administration has been deemed much more pro-crypto, especially compared to the previous Biden administration, which has been accused of trying to snuff out the crypto industry through regulatory bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission. So far, the majority of crypto-friendly policies have gained support in Trump’s Congress from both Democrats and Republicans.
What does the Bitcoin Reserve executive order entail?
Trump’s executive order mandates the creation of a Bitcoin reserve as well as a digital asset stockpile of major tokens like XRP (XRP), SOL (SOL) and ADA (ADA). The reserve would be compiled using BTC held by the U.S. federal government, seized from criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.
Not only that, the executive order also authorizes Treasury and Commerce Departments to come up with “budget-neutral strategies” for buying more Bitcoin for the reserve. That way, the government would not buy Bitcoin using taxpayers’ funds. The executive order also prohibits the sale of any Bitcoin in the reserve.
AI and crypto czar David Sacks estimated that the U.S. government currently holds 200,000 BTC. However, the exact amount has not been disclosed, considering the BTC trove has never been subject to a full audit.
