Okay, so I just watched this video from Coin Bureau about the US Bitcoin Reserve, and wow, it's a bit of a ride. It seems like what started as a really exciting promise from Donald Trump back in July 2024 to create a national Bitcoin reserve, and even a bill by Senator Cynthia Lummis to buy 1 million BTC, has hit some serious roadblocks.
Initially, the market was buzzing! Bitcoin's price jumped when President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to establish the reserve. But then the details came out, and it turned out the reserve would only be funded by Bitcoin the government had already seized, not by new purchases. This was a huge letdown for the market, causing prices to dip.
Then things got even weirder. A Freedom of Information request in September 2025 revealed that federal agencies hadn't even reported their seized assets to the Treasury, as required by the executive order. It seems like more of a bureaucratic mess than a deliberate policy failure. And get this – another request to the US Marshall Service showed they held way less Bitcoin than widely reported, a shocking 28,988 BTC, compared to the over 200,000 BTC some firms were tracking. Talk about confusion!
Treasury Secretary Scott Pessant didn't help, making some confusing statements about not buying Bitcoin for the reserve, which caused another market selloff, before clarifying that they were looking into "budget-neutral pathways" to acquire more. It’s been a real rollercoaster of mixed messages and uncertainty.
So, is the dream of a fully funded reserve dead? Not entirely. Senator Lummis's Bitcoin Act of 2025 is still out there, aiming to make the reserve permanent and mandate yearly Bitcoin purchases. If that passed, it would create a massive supply shock, potentially sending Bitcoin prices soaring. However, the video points out that politically, it's an uphill battle with very low chances of passing due to strong opposition.