Miners win most from the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve | Opinion

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On March 6, Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — part of the roadmap to making the US the “crypto capital of the world,” announced by then President-Elect months ago. The plan for a “digital Fort Knox” was finally set to become reality.

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Yet, its ultimate iteration missed the key component most cherished by the market: the cryptocurrency included in the reserve turned out to be forfeited crypto from the government criminal and civil cases. While far from being the worst (for instance, the German authorities just sell confiscated crypto straight away), this scenario wasn’t the open market purchases the investors anticipated. The expected demand driver now lay dormant.

State reserves are following suit

Still, the creation of the federal crypto reserve set an important precedent to follow. States like Texas explored the possibilities of adopting a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve of their own, and the state is now just one step away from the endgame. With the Texas Senate passing the so-called SB-21 immediately after the President’s announcement, it is up to Governor Greg Abbott to sign the bill to make it effective immediately. In the meantime, Florida and New Hampshire are introducing legislative mechanisms to allow the investments of public funds in Bitcoin. While the Florida bill is still under review, the New Hampshire Senate has successfully passed the resolution on March 13th.

So, what’s in a name? Wouldn’t the state reserves simply follow the example of the federal one, transferring the seized digital assets from criminal and civil litigations to a state-established special-purpose vehicle?

The reserves need more—and much more

It is yet to be announced what the primary source of Bitcoin for state-level reserves like the Texan one will be. What’s even more interesting is the language caveat of developing “budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin” in the White House fact sheet. With rapidly advancing regulatory framework and practices, the creation of the SEC specialized crypto task force, and a general judiciary thaw in the US government digital assets stance, the number of civil litigations is expected to decrease. More robust cybersecurity practices, especially in the wake of the recent Bybit heist concerns, are also going to drive the criminal seizures down. Even if forfeited crypto was an easy place to start from, its volumes will dwindle in the near future.

Is the one-time seized assets requalification enough to sustain the federal and state demands for a non-expirable store of value instrument? According to reports, the US government now holds approximately 200,000 BTC—just around $16.5 billion in monetary value. This number seems to be a sizable amount, and it’s even greater than the current federal holdings in gold. However, a brief comparison to the US federal budget in 2025 gives a different picture: the “Digital Asset Stockpile” is just a miniscule 1.03% of the government’s annual spendings. And this doesn’t even account for the state-level expenditures. Is it really a strategic reserve, then?

Requalifying forfeited digital assets was the most logical step to start. But it is highly unlikely that this, using President Trump’s words, is sufficient to make the US “the global crypto capital.” More Bitcoin acquisitions at all state levels need to follow.

But how to safeguard open market operations from violating AML, FATF, and other regulatory norms? How to ensure that all the digital assets purchases are clear, secure, and compliant? How to trace the origin of every single Bitcoin ending up in the strategic reserve?

Local US mining is the solution

The US-based mining industry accounts for over 40% of the Bitcoin network’s global hashrate. Even with the increasing mining difficulty, this number is more than enough to sustain all future potential governmental acquisitions. Most importantly, the mined Bitcoins are guaranteed to be clean and compliant, given that future regulatory advancements in the field are to take place. Supporting local, compliant, easily traceable, and taxable businesses is a win-win for all sides involved—and tax proceeds can be used to finance the open market operations, staying in line with the White House “budget-neutral strategies” clause.

States with an advanced and stable energy grid and an electricity surplus are the low-hanging fruit to begin with. For instance, the Perryman Group report estimates that, considering all the multipliers, the development of the local mining industry in Texas is likely to create 12,200 additional jobs and result in the estimated benefits of $1.7 billion in gross product. Extrapolating the number to the federal level yields a forecasted 31,000 vacancies and an extra $4.1 billion in gross domestic product each year. The numbers are too high to be ignored, and they can be even higher if the US regulators establish a transparent legal framework for mining and implement energy agreements and tax breaks to further incentivize the US mining industry on both the local and the federal levels.

From business to the strategic foundational layer

The establishment of the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was an important milestone that fell short of the market’s expectations. Still, in light of Donald Trump’s global crypto leadership agenda and state-level public funds investments in Bitcoin, it is unlikely that the Bitcoin reserve will remain an ad hoc requalification. Additional purchases need to be made, but they need to be clean.

For US Bitcoin miners, this is more than just a policy shift, it’s the chance to become the bedrock of a new digital economic order. If the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is to become a true pillar of national strength, it will be mined, secured, and powered right here at home.

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