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With the Bitcoin price hovering just below the old all-time high set on December 17, US Senator Cynthia Lummis and Eric Trump reportedly met at the Capitol yesterday to discuss the idea of creating a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis broke the news, while Swan, a crypto-focused platform, highlighted Eric Trump’s now-deleted retweet about the meeting.
Almost as soon as Eric Trump retweeted Swan’s post referencing conversations with Senator Lummis about the SBR, he pulled it down without explanation. “What happens behind the scenes?” Swan wondered in a subsequent tweet, suggesting the quick removal could indicate an abundance of caution, possibly to avoid making an official announcement.
DEVELOPMENT: Eric Trump RT’d @Swan‘s post about his meeting with Senator Lummis about American Strategic #Bitcoin Reserve and then remove it quickly.
What happens behind the scenes? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/E7nqbieNIQ
— Zwaan (@Zwaan) January 22, 2025
This latest buzz follows Senator Lummis’ unveiling last year of the Bitcoin Act of 2024, a legislative proposal to formally establish a US strategic Bitcoin reserve. Officially known as the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act, the bill outlines a plan for the U.S. Treasury Department to acquire 1 million BTC over five years, funded by reallocating existing resources within the Federal Reserve System and the Treasury Department.
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While details remain scarce on the legislation’s progress, sources indicate Lummis’ office is working diligently to address the political and logistical complexities involved. Notably, Senator Lummis also met with former President Donald Trump this weekend. Senator John Barrasso revealed via X: “Senator Lummis and I had a great time talking with President Donald Trump this morning. Wyoming is ready for Inauguration Day tomorrow!”
Bitcoin Reserve Rumors Intensify With Ulbricht Pardon
The idea of an SBR has received new impetus following yesterday’s pardon of Ross Ulbricht by President Trump. Analysts note that during the 2024 conference, Trump had floated the idea of transferring BTC seized by law enforcement into a national stockpile. Now that the pardon promise has been fulfilled, many in the community are wondering if the SBR plan could be next on the government’s agenda.
On prediction platform Polymarket, the chances of an impending SBR increased from 28% to 44% after news of the pardon became known. Those odds once rose to 59% around Inauguration Day. Lately they had fallen back to around 28%, only to jump back up after Ulbricht’s release.
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Crypto analyst known as Byzantine General expressed optimism, posting on
David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc, who was instrumental in turning Trump pro-BTC, added on the speculation, noting: “Tonight is about Ross, but I’ll share this because I’m getting a lot of questions: I’m still expecting special bitcoin+crypto EOs in the coming days. I don’t know what they say or when exactly they fall. I also fully expect the President to deliver on the SBR in his first 100 days.”
Anthony Pompliano, founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management, posted a similarly confident opinion: “If Ross Ulbricht is pardoned, we will definitely get the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Trump will make history with the stroke of a pen.”
In a separate discussion at the World Economic Forum, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was asked about President Trump’s position on setting up a US Bitcoin reserve. Armstrong said:
“Well, I haven’t talked to him about that specifically, but I think he’s excited about it. I mean, he really wants to be the first Bitcoin president. Cynthia Lummis in the Senate, I think, is actually the one driving this legislation around a strategic Bitcoin reserve. And I think it’s a good idea. The US actually has reserves in a lot of things, gold, oil, I think 27 different rare minerals like palladium and all these things. And so, you know, I think the world is moving to a Bitcoin standard for money. They should absolutely hold on. Any government that owns gold must also hold Bitcoin as a reserve.”
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $105,382.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
