President-elect Trump met with crypto industry leader Kris Marszalek to prepare an order for a Bitcoin reserve in a bid to strengthen the U.S. financial landscape.
Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com CEO, met Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 16 to talk about the proposed crypto-related appointments within the financial departments and Congress. They also discussed drafts of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to be administered within the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, as noted in his Nashville speech delivered in July.
What the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve entails
After the meeting, Bitcoin Magazine posted a draft executive order made by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, from which a policy framework lays out the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. It intends to classify Bitcoin (BTC) as a strategic reserve asset within the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund in order to increase U.S. economic security.
It also ensures that the reserve will have strict audits and security standards. All BTC that the government possesses, including those obtained in forfeiture cases, shall be consolidated under the SBR within seven days.
The Treasury must also establish a program within 60 days to acquire and manage its BTC holdings. The order is an effort to cement the United States’ leadership in digital assets, which will build economic resilience and global financial supremacy.
The meeting with the 45-year-old CEO follows a recent phone call between Trump and Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, which took place on Nov.19, as reported by Fortune. In addition to consulting with CEOs of crypto firms, Trump has enlisted several known crypto proponents, including Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary and Paul Atkins to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in his coming term, which has further cemented his pro-crypto stance.
BTC also hit an all-time high of $108,268.45 on Dec. 17, likely fueled by the news of Trump meeting Marszalek. At the same time, Derek Merrin, who leads the Ohio House Republicans, has also proposed a bill to introduce a state-backed Bitcoin Reserve.
