Crypto summit with Trump puts BTC under pressure: USA on the way to becoming Bitcoin superpower?

In doing so, he underlined his government’s crypto-friendly course.

“Last year, I promised to make America the world’s Bitcoin superpower and the crypto capital of the planet,” Trump said in his opening speech. “We are taking historic action to deliver on that promise.”

In addition to US Digital Currency Commissioner David Sacks, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and others, several industry representatives were present. The participants praised Trump’s initiative at length. Sacks joked that a participant had told him before the summit began that a year ago he “thought it was more likely that I would end up in prison than in the White House.”

BTC price remains under pressure
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continued its recent losses on Sunday. On CoinMarketCap, the digital currency last cost $82,349. Only on Friday did the price slip back below the 90,000 mark after initial details of the planned US reserve for digital currencies caused some disillusionment among investors in the crypto markets.

Problematic alliance?

Sacks’ joke illustrates how much the political climate for the industry has changed under Trump. His Democratic predecessor Joe Biden relied on restrictive regulation of digital currencies and warned of money laundering and potential risks for the financial markets. Trump, on the other hand, was already open to digital currencies during the election campaign – and received considerable support from the industry. After his election victory, the Bitcoin price, among other things, rose sharply.

Critics, however, see a potentially problematic alliance between the presidency and the economic interests of the Trump family. Shortly before taking office, the Republican had a so-called “meme coin” with his likeness called “$TRUMP” issued – a digital commemorative coin that can be traded. In this context, the industry connections of the Trump Organization, which is run by the president’s sons, are causing discussion.

Trump ordered reserve

The day before the summit, Trump had already implemented one of his campaign promises and ordered the creation of a national US reserve for digital currencies. This strategic reserve is intended to store units of the best-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, that are already in the possession of the US government – for example through confiscations in the context of criminal prosecutions.

According to Sacks, the Commerce and Treasury Departments will be allowed to purchase additional Bitcoin for the reserve in the future – but without any financial burden on taxpayers. However, the government will not take any active measures to systematically expand these stocks.

The US government already has tens of thousands of Bitcoins through government measures against criminal networks. Sacks estimated the current stock at around 200,000 units. With a Bitcoin price of around $88,000, this corresponds to a total value of over $17 billion.

Image by Eivind Pedersen from Pixabay