United States Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) says elements of the nation’s uniformed leadership are now “big supporters” of plans to build a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), marking the first time a sitting law-maker has publicly claimed high-level military backing for the project.
Bitcoin Reserve Gains Military Support
“There are generals, especially in Southeast Asia, who believe it is important to have strategic Bitcoin stockpiles, because we are in an economic war with China,” Lummis told Bloomberg Television late Tuesday. “All we need to do is look to the leadership of the current US military to find support for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
Lummis reiterated her plan to accumulate 1 million BTC — roughly 5 percent of the supply — and hold it for twenty years. “My purpose is to… illuminate half of the US debt,” she said. The senator’s first funding tranche would rely on Bitcoin already in federal custody: “The place to start is to use the money held by the US Marshals Service… asset-forfeiture monies in the form of digital assets. That can be the basis for year one of a strategic Bitcoin reserve.”
Lummis’ remarks land two months after President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14233, creating a SBR capitalised with all BTC forfeited in federal cases and instructing agencies to transfer their holdings to Treasury-run cold wallets.
The House and Senate are now considering companion “BITCOIN Act” bills that would codify the reserve in statute and authorise Treasury to purchase additional coins with “no incremental cost to taxpayers.” Even so, Lummis conceded legislation to expand or finance the reserve directly is unlikely to surface this session.
“I don’t think we’re going to get to this bill in 2025, because our next priority is market-structure,” she said, referring to the looming fight over jurisdictional boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Responding to concerns that a BTC build-up might displace bullion, Lummis stressed she has “never proposed selling any of our gold or hard assets.” Instead she would re-value Treasury’s 1934-vintage gold certificates at fair-market prices and swap the accounting uplift into BTC: “convert[ing] our gold certificates to current fair-market value and use those to convert to Bitcoin.”
Asked about JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon’s call for Washington to hoard “bullets, drones and rare earths” instead of BTC, the senator fired back: “Even the United States military disagrees with him… We have to prepare for a guns-and-bullets war, but we need both.”
Notably, Lummis wants the reserve to be Bitcoin-only. “Bitcoin is based on proof-of-work,” she argued, indicating no appetite to diversify into proof-of-stake assets or stablecoins at the sovereign-reserve level.
At press time, BTC traded at $105,494.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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United States Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) says elements of the nation’s uniformed leadership are now “big supporters” of plans to build a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), marking the first time a sitting law-maker has publicly claimed high-level military backing for the project.
Bitcoin Reserve Gains Military Support
“There are generals, especially in Southeast Asia, who believe it is important to have strategic Bitcoin stockpiles, because we are in an economic war with China,” Lummis told Bloomberg Television late Tuesday. “All we need to do is look to the leadership of the current US military to find support for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
Lummis reiterated her plan to accumulate 1 million BTC — roughly 5 percent of the supply — and hold it for twenty years. “My purpose is to… illuminate half of the US debt,” she said. The senator’s first funding tranche would rely on Bitcoin already in federal custody: “The place to start is to use the money held by the US Marshals Service… asset-forfeiture monies in the form of digital assets. That can be the basis for year one of a strategic Bitcoin reserve.”
Lummis’ remarks land two months after President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14233, creating a SBR capitalised with all BTC forfeited in federal cases and instructing agencies to transfer their holdings to Treasury-run cold wallets.
The House and Senate are now considering companion “BITCOIN Act” bills that would codify the reserve in statute and authorise Treasury to purchase additional coins with “no incremental cost to taxpayers.” Even so, Lummis conceded legislation to expand or finance the reserve directly is unlikely to surface this session.
“I don’t think we’re going to get to this bill in 2025, because our next priority is market-structure,” she said, referring to the looming fight over jurisdictional boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Responding to concerns that a BTC build-up might displace bullion, Lummis stressed she has “never proposed selling any of our gold or hard assets.” Instead she would re-value Treasury’s 1934-vintage gold certificates at fair-market prices and swap the accounting uplift into BTC: “convert[ing] our gold certificates to current fair-market value and use those to convert to Bitcoin.”
Asked about JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon’s call for Washington to hoard “bullets, drones and rare earths” instead of BTC, the senator fired back: “Even the United States military disagrees with him… We have to prepare for a guns-and-bullets war, but we need both.”
Notably, Lummis wants the reserve to be Bitcoin-only. “Bitcoin is based on proof-of-work,” she argued, indicating no appetite to diversify into proof-of-stake assets or stablecoins at the sovereign-reserve level.
At press time, BTC traded at $105,494.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.
