American Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made his highly anticipated appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville on July 27. Trump made several promises to the crypto voters in attendance, including what he would do with the US government owned Bitcoin if chosen.
What Donald Trump plans to do with US Bitcoin holdings
During the Bitcoin conference Trump stated that if he were electedhis administration would implement a policy requiring the US government to retain “100%” of the Bitcoin it currently owns or acquires. Trump made this statement while noting that the government has so far “violated a cardinal rule that every Bitcoiner knows by heart,” namely that he should never sell his BTC.
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Facts On-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows that the US government currently owns 213,239 BTC ($14.87 billion). However, the government is known to have sold some of its assets in the past last confirmed sale comes in April when it sold 1,754 BTC.
Trump’s plan for the US to retain all its Bitcoin holdings undoubtedly offers a bullish outlook for Bitcoin, given the impact that the US government’s BTC sales have had on the token’s price in the past. Moreover, the The US owns the most Bitcoin under all governments. Therefore, such a move could take a significant amount of Bitcoin out of circulation for a significant period of time.
It’s worth noting that most of the US government’s Bitcoin holdings came from the seizures of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, which Ross Ulbricht made. Interestingly, Trump reaffirmed his promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence if elected.
But even if he eventually becomes a free man, it remains unlikely that Ulbricht will be able to retrieve the 50,591 BTC reportedly recovered from the hacker who stole Ulbricht and Silk Road in a previous hack. This is because of the founder of Silk Road forfeited claims to these funds in 2022 to offset the unpaid balance of his money judgment.
How Trump’s Candidacy Continues to Provide a Bullish Outlook for Crypto
Before the conference, Trump had done the same already confirmed his support for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This led to several predictions that Bitcoin could reach unprecedented heights if Trump wins the US presidential election in November. Standard Chartered for example predicted that Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by the end of the year if the former president wins.
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a Trump victory This is also expected to usher in clearer and more favorable crypto regulations, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on crypto prices. There’s a good chance this will happen, given the way the US Securities and Exchanges (SEC) regulation through enforcement approach has left a sour taste in the crypto market. Interesting enough, Trump promised it to fire the SEC Chairman Gary Genslerwho has so far taken the lead in this approach by the Commission.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com