Trump’s crypto reserve: An odd idea with a silver lining for the world
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If any other owner of a cryptocurrency platform had announced a national reserve of cryptocurrencies, howls of protest over conflict of interest would have rent the air. When President Donald Trump declared that the US would create a Bitcoin reserve and a separate crypto stockpile, his fan base took it as a move to fulfil a campaign promise.
But the proposal he unveiled last week seemed like a bit of a con. For Bitcoin, the US government will merely rename its existing holdings as a strategic reserve. No additional tokens will be bought.
No federal funds being deployed also goes for the multiple-crypto stash to be held alongside. What’s already in the US crypto vault had fallen into state ownership as a result of legal proceedings against wrongdoing. Trump’s pro-crypto stance remains, though.
He has a stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that launches tokens, plus lends and sells them without intermediaries. His wife Melania owns a crypto token, $Melania, while close associate Elon Musk is the owner and champion of several meme coins and tokens. Trump’s embrace of the concept during his campaign had enthused crypto-happy voters and his win set off a crypto bull run.
Last week’s news of a Bitcoin reserve was expected to justify and strengthen its rising price. It dropped, instead, once it became clear that the proposal was ‘budget neutral’ and would not support prices through government demand. These digital tokens have value only because people ascribe value to them, not because they have any intrinsic worth.
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