Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Unlikely to Purchase BTC, Bitget CEO Says

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen has estimated that the likelihood of the US government purchasing Bitcoin for its strategic reserve before President Donald Trump leaves office is nearly zero.

Speaking in a recent interview, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the US government is unlikely to start purchasing Bitcoin for its strategic reserve over the next two years.

“From a policy perspective, it’s probably unlikely,” Chen said. “I just don’t see it coming right now.”

Chen said that purchasing Bitcoin would require a broader policy decision than simply retaining assets already under government control. Lawmakers and political parties would need to discuss how a potential buying program should operate, especially if it involved public funds or changes to federal accounting rules.

Her assessment shifts attention toward the reserve’s funding framework rather than the administration’s public backing of cryptocurrency. Trump established the reserve in March 2025, but the order did not allocate funds for routine Bitcoin purchases through exchanges.

Bitcoin Reserve Rules Restrict Direct Government BTC Purchases#

President Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025, formally establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the US Digital Asset Stockpile.

Under the order, the Treasury Department is required to maintain custody accounts for Bitcoin permanently forfeited through criminal or civil proceedings or obtained through civil penalties. Federal agencies were also directed to review their holdings and report eligible assets to the Treasury.

According to the order, Bitcoin transferred to the reserve “shall not be sold,” although existing laws provide exceptions for court orders, victim restitution, law enforcement activities and certain asset-forfeiture requirements.

The White House did not fully rule out additional government purchases of BTC. Instead, the order instructed the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop acquisition strategies that remain budget-neutral and avoid creating any extra costs for taxpayers.

No funding mechanism or purchasing timeline accompanied the directive. Any strategy involving new federal spending would require approval from Congress, while alternatives such as revaluing US gold certificates could encounter separate legal and political obstacles.

An August policy explainer identified gold revaluation as one potential way to fund the reserve. Federal Reserve gold certificates are valued at a statutory rate of $42.22 per ounce, well below current market prices, but lawmakers would need to pass legislation before the difference could fund Bitcoin purchases.

Bitcoin Reserve Removes Supply Without Creating New Demand#

Public estimates generally put US government holdings at around 198,000 BTC, representing roughly 1% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. The figure includes coins tied to major forfeiture cases, although the government has not published a complete audit confirming the amount of BTC permanently forfeited and eligible for inclusion in the reserve.

The distinction between seized and forfeited assets is important because the government does not automatically own every coin stored in a federal wallet. Seized assets may still face court proceedings, restitution claims or possible returns to victims, while assets that are finally forfeited can become federal property.

With Bitcoin recently trading near $78,000, a 198,000 BTC holding would be valued at roughly $15.4 billion. The order’s biggest market impact comes from its ban on selling rather than from expectations of a steady flow of government purchases.

Before Trump created the reserve, the US Marshals Service regularly auctioned Bitcoin seized in criminal cases. White House estimates indicate that the government had sold around 195,000 BTC before the reserve order, while administration officials argued those earlier sales cost taxpayers billions of dollars in unrealized gains.

Keeping a large federal Bitcoin position out of the market removes one known source of potential supply. However, it does not create the recurring demand that regular Treasury purchases at predetermined intervals or price levels would generate.

Bitcoin investors initially expected the reserve announcement to encourage active accumulation, but the order did not establish such a purchasing program. As a result, the market’s outlook now depends more on whether the administration finds a lawful, budget-neutral funding mechanism or Congress approves separate legislation.

Treasury Previously Ruled Out Active Bitcoin Purchases#

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a similar explanation of the government’s strategy in August 2025, saying the reserve would expand through confiscated assets rather than direct Bitcoin purchases.

“We’re not going to be buying that [Bitcoin], but are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,” Bessent told Fox Business, adding that the government would “stop selling” its holdings.

A June review of the reserve reported that Bessent estimated the federal Bitcoin holdings were worth between $15 billion and $20 billion at the time. The report also noted that the executive order directed officials to explore budget-neutral acquisition methods but did not authorize an open-market purchasing program.

Congress could establish a statutory Bitcoin reserve to replace the current framework. Senator Cynthia Lummis’s BITCOIN Act proposed acquiring 1 million BTC over five years, while the American Reserve Modernization Act, introduced in May 2026, called for a 20-year holding period without maintaining the same 1 million BTC target.

Neither proposal has established an active federal Bitcoin purchasing program. Congressional approval would also offer stronger legal protection than an executive order, which a future president could modify or revoke.

US Investors Still Face Uncertainty Over Bitcoin Reserve Balance#

For US investors, the reserve does not provide direct exposure similar to holding shares in a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Its immediate significance instead centers on federal supply management, as the order restricts when reserve-held coins can be returned to the market.

Public wallet trackers cannot establish the reserve’s precise size. Some services include Bitcoin stored in government-linked addresses even when ownership, forfeiture status or restitution obligations have yet to be resolved.

Federal custody activity can further complicate the picture. In July, US-linked wallets transferred nearly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime, including around 3,940 BTC valued at roughly $244 million at the time and 30,000 ETH worth about $53 million.

Coinbase Prime offers custody and trading services, so the transfers did not necessarily indicate that the assets had been sold. Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn linked the Bitcoin to seizures involving Ryan Farace and the defunct BTC-e exchange, while the Ether came from wallets associated with a separate federal case involving crypto storage and money laundering.