U.S. government reveals no plans to buy more bitcoin in 2025

Speculation about the increased institutional adoption of cryptocurrency, and bitcoin, in particular, has been rife for some time.

The U.S. government has decided not to invest in any new bitcoin in 2025, despite the expectation that this was the plan. Instead, new strategies may be explored regarding the management of existing bitcoin reserves, experts explain.

A report published by Galaxy Research, a company specializing in digital finance, on December 27, 2024, has dampened the idea that the Fed will be topping up its reserve of 183,850 BTC (around $17,36 billion), which is spread across 36 known addresses.

“The US government will not purchase Bitcoin in 2025. There will be some movement within the departments and agencies to examine an expanded Bitcoin reserve policy,” the report stated.

There’s still potential for a long-term expanded reserve policy

The Act, proposed by Senator Cynthia Lummis, proposed purchasing 200,000 BTC annually for five years, a plan that many described as ambitious. The bigger picture is the acquisition of a one million bitcoin reserve over a two-decade period.

Now, it looks unlikely that this strategy will be adopted any time soon. However, Galaxy Research’s views suggest that some departments and agencies may start to consider an “expanded bitcoin reserve policy,” which could set the stage for potential longer-term strategic expansion.

An example of increased institutional adoption of cryptocurrency is the State of Michigan Retirement System’s decision to invest $8 million of state employees’ money in digital reserves.

U.S. government’s position on cryptocurrency may influence others, like Japan

The United States’ policies on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are likely to have a domino effect around the world as other countries’ governments wait to see whether the U.S. decides to increase investments or not.

In Japan, for example, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba recently admitted that he’s waiting to study the position of the U.S. before making a decision on a possible bitcoin investment strategy.

Another analyst from Galaxy Research, JW, says that five Nasdaq 100 companies and five nation-states are looking at adding bitcoin to their portfolios in 2025. He explained:

“Competition among nation-states, particularly unaligned nations, those with large sovereign wealth funds, or even those adversarial to the United States, will drive the adoption of strategies to mine or otherwise acquire Bitcoin.”

Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, predicted that bitcoin investments would evolve this way. He expects several countries, including China, to start building up their bitcoin reserves in the near future.

Just because the United States is being cautious about its bitcoin strategy for now doesn’t make major global changes unlikely. Ohio’s HB 703 Bill hints at the changing landscape of cryptocurrency starting with businesses and states before governments decide to get on board to a greater degree.

The status of bitcoin in the United States context

Here’s some information about bitcoin in the U.S. and its current and future status:

Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency in the world, and it's also the most well-known. It was created in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, which means that it's not subject to government or financial institution control. Instead, bitcoin transactions are verified and recorded by a network of computers around the world.

Bitcoin is legal in the United States, and it can be bought, sold, and traded on various cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the U.S. government is still working on regulating bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In March 2023, President Biden signed an executive order on digital assets, which aims to coordinate the federal government's approach to cryptocurrency regulation.

Bitcoin's price has been volatile over the years, but it's generally shown an upward trend. In December 2024, one bitcoin was worth around $95,000. However, the bitcoin price can fluctuate significantly, and it's essential to be aware of the risks involved before investing in bitcoin.

Although bitcoin is king of the crypto world, Pi Network is the latest cryptocurrency making waves and being praised as an innovative, user-friendly approach to digital assets.