US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump made his long-awaited 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 to US Government Bitcoin Holdings if elected.
What Donald Trump plans with US Bitcoin holdings
During the Bitcoin conference, Trump stated that if electedhis administration would implement a policy that would require the U.S. government to hold “100%” of the Bitcoin it currently holds or acquires. Trump made this statement while commenting that the government so far, “it has violated a cardinal rule that every Bitcoiner knows by heart,” which is to never sell your BTC.
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Data From on-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, it shows that the US government currently holds 213,239 BTC ($14.87 billion). However, the government is known to have disposed of some of its holdings in the past, with its last confirmed sale arriving in April, when he sold 1,754 BTC.
Trump’s plan for the US to hold all of its Bitcoin holdings undoubtedly provides a bullish outlook for Bitcoin, considering the impact that US government BTC sales have had on the token’s price in the past. Furthermore, US holds most Bitcoin between all governments. Therefore, such a move could remove a significant amount of Bitcoin from circulation for a considerable period of time.
It’s worth noting that most of the US government’s Bitcoin holdings came through seizures made on the dark web marketplace Silk Road, which Ross Ulbricht created. Interestingly, Trump has again reaffirmed his promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence if he is elected.
However, even if he eventually becomes a free man, it is still unlikely that Ulbricht will be able to recover the 50,591 BTC that was allegedly recovered from the hacker who stole Ulbricht and Silk Road in a previous hack. This is because the Silk Road founder lost claims on these funds in 2022 to offset the unpaid balance of his monetary judgment.
How Trump’s candidacy continues to provide a bullish outlook for crypto
Before the conference, Trump had already stated his support for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This has led to several predictions that Bitcoin could reach unprecedented levels if Trump wins the US presidential election in November. For example, Standard Chartered foreseen that Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by the end of the year if the former president wins.
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A Trump’s victory should also usher in clearer and more favorable crypto regulations, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on cryptocurrency prices. This is more likely to happen given how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation through enforcement approach has left a bitter taste in the crypto market. Interestingly, Trump promised to fire the SEC Chairman Gary Genslerwho has led this Commission approach so far.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com