Cryptoverse: Trump's bitcoin stockpile plan stirs debate
Our regular analysis of cryptocurrencies
By Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
Aug 6 (Reuters) -"Never sell your bitcoin," Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a crypto convention in Nashville, Tennessee in late July.
The Republican presidential candidate's speech was the latest overture in his effort to court crypto-focused voters ahead of November's election and offered a bevy of campaign promises, including a plan for a state bitcoin reserve.
"If elected, it will be the policy of my administration to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future," Trump said, adding the funds would serve as the "core of the strategic national bitcoin stockpile."
Indeed, Trump isn't the only one with such a proposal. U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced legislation that would see the U.S. government purchase one million bitcoin, around 5% of total supply, while independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has suggested a government stockpile of four million bitcoin.
A strategic reserve would be one use for the massive amount of bitcoin held by the U.S. government. The jury's out on what it would be used for, whether it's feasible, or if it's even welcome for the broader crypto market, though.
The U.S. government holds a bumper cache of crypto: around $11.1 billion worth which includes 203,239 bitcoin tokens, according to data firm Arkham Intelligence which said the pile came from criminal seizures, including from online marketplace Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013.
At current levels, the U.S. holds about 1% of overall global bitcoin supply - which stands at about 19.7 million tokens, according to Blockchain.com. Bitcoin's total supply is capped at 21 million coins.
To compare against big non-state investors, Michael Saylor's Microstrategy MSTR.O holds about 226,500 bitcoin tokens, as per second-quarter results. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT.O and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC.P hold 344,070 and 240,140 tokens respectively, according to data site BitcoinTreasuries.
A government bitcoin stockpile could shore up bitcoin's price.
"It would have a positive impact on price. It would have to because we've never had such a limited supply commodity, albeit digital, assume a new state of a reserve asset," said Mark Connors, head of global macro at Onramp Bitcoin.
Yet such a reserve also means fewer tokens for crypto investors to trade with and could leave them exposed if the government ever sold part of its reserves.
"RFK talked about having 19% of bitcoin, the same amount of the gold supply - I can't imagine a single bitcoiner would be happy about that," Connors added.
Governments besides the United States also boast bumper hoards of bitcoin, with BitcoinTreasuries reporting China is the second largest government holder, with 190,000 coins.
'A LOT TO FIGURE OUT'
While the prospect of a national bitcoin reserve is uncertain, crypto watchers are nonetheless pondering what form it could take.
Connors suggested the Federal Reserve could manage the reserves for the Treasury Department, as it does with gold. On the other hand, the stockpile could be more akin to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, where both the president and Congress have varying amounts of control, according to Frank Kelly, senior political strategist at asset manager DWS Group.
"There's a lot to parse and figure out there," Kelly said.
There's also an irony that jars with many true bitcoin believers: the digital asset intended to be decentralized and free of government control becoming part of a state reserve.
Regardless of what happens with a bitcoin stockpile, many market players are happy enough to see crypto becoming a significant campaign talking point.
"There's a general view in the industry that both parties are paying much more attention to digital assets," said Raoul Mewawalla, CEO of Mawson Infrastructure Group MIGI.O which operates data centers for bitcoin mining.
"The expectation is that will continue post November."
Bitcoin treasure chests https://reut.rs/3YwSGRx
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
