US Adopts Bitcoin as a Strategic Asset in Historic Move

The United States has made a historic step by formally accepting Bitcoin as one of its strategic assets.

The United States has taken a historic step by formally accepting Bitcoin as one of its strategic assets. This move comes with President Donald Trump announcing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve—a US government cryptocurrency reserve—in an early March 2025 executive order.

The order directs that the reserve be financed using Bitcoin already confiscated in criminal and civil forfeitures (about 200,000 BTC held by the government). It explicitly bans selling these holdings, echoing the crypto mantra of "never sell your Bitcoin." Instead, agencies must "HODL" this "digital gold" in a "digital Fort Knox" for the nation.

This action raises basic questions: Is this the start of a new age in digital finance, or a political strategic maneuver? What does it portend for the future of Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market?

Price Movements and Market Reaction

The whole crypto market chipped $300+ billion in hours, a ~10% increase in global market cap. Investors interpreted the news as bullish confirmation that the US government was finally on board with adopting crypto—triggering a broad rally in Bitcoin and leading altcoins.

BTCUSD, H2

However, a few days later, details of the executive order prompted a "sell the news" dip. On March 7, when the White House confirmed that the reserve would initially contain only seized Bitcoin and not immediately buy more, Bitcoin briefly fell ~5% to below $85,000. Some traders were disappointed that there was no aggressive buying plan. Still, the pullback was short-lived: by the next morning, BTC rebounded to near $89,000.

Even after the knee-jerk selloff, Bitcoin remained at historically elevated levels—it had hit an all-time high of around $109,000 in January 2025 amid speculation of pro-crypto US policies.

Market analysts opine that macroeconomic considerations tempered the crypto rally toward the end of the week. After the initial euphoria, wider worries—such as impending trade wars and overall risk-off sentiment—resulted in crypto surrendering those gains. Nevertheless, the uptrend remains in place. Bitcoin's price is considerably higher than it was a year ago, supported by hopes of favorable US regulation and the 2024 supply-halving, which halved new BTC issuance by 50%. The 2024 halving reduced Bitcoin's block reward from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC, increasing its scarcity. Historically, these halvings have produced multi-year bull cycles, and most bulls interpret Trump's reserve news as another catalyst on top of post-halving momentum.

Historical Parallels

To put Trump's Bitcoin Reserve in context, observers are comparing it with past Bitcoin catalysts like ETF approvals and mining reward halvings:

• ETF approvals: The advent of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds has been on the wish list of mainstream adoption for years. In late 2024, the US saw the top-ranked Bitcoin ETFs gaining traction, and asset managers significantly ramped up exposures to these instruments. It was a repeat of the gold ETF history—the introduction of gold ETFs in the 2000s opened floodgates to institutional investment. The same is currently occurring with Bitcoin ETFs, which are gaining popularity not only among hedge funds but even banks and sovereign wealth funds. Trump's pro-crypto attitude will further speed up the SEC's approval of more crypto ETFs, even Ethereum and potentially Solana funds. Indeed, sentiment in the crypto sector was high that a spate of new listings of ETFs was imminent under a friendly administration.

• Bitcoin halvings: Bitcoin's intrinsic halving events have repeatedly defined its price history. The April 2024 last halving, reducing mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, further compressed Bitcoin's supply. Post-halving dynamics typically show positive price action as scarcity accelerates, and 2025 is no exception. Bitcoin gained from around $30K pre-halving to over $75K by Nov 2024 in the hope of elections, and eventually over $100K by January 2025 due to a pro-crypto policy framework. In the past, the year or so after a halving has seen disproportionate gains (2013, 2017, 2021 cycles), and most analysts hold the view that the 2024–2025 cycle would be turbo-charged by institutions and now government demand. Standard Chartered's team notoriously priced $125K by the end of 2024 if Trump was re-elected and up to $200K by the end of 2025, regardless of who won. Now Reuters even reported one Standard Chartered analyst's $500K per