Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Will The U.S. Government Buy Bitcoin?

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is here.
Following last week’s executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), policymakers are directed to explore creative strategies to accumulate bitcoin without increasing the federal budget or burdening taxpayers. The executive order calls for budget-neutral bitcoin accumulation, meaning that acquiring bitcoin for the reserve will be accomplished through accounting methods rather than direct market purchases. This approach is fiscally prudent and seeks to avoid the SBR becoming a political football, as the use of taxpayer funds to accumulate a volatile asset could open the administration to criticism about the use of taxpayer funds for something that most Americans don’t fully understand.
Nonetheless, the accumulation of bitcoin by sovereign states is a national security imperative. We are fortunate in the United States to have several individuals at the highest level of government who understand the strategic importance of bitcoin. But if it’s so important, how will the U.S. Treasury add to its bitcoin reserve while remaining budget-neutral?
Budget-Neutral Accumulation Explained
Budget neutrality in government policy means avoiding net changes to spending or deficits. In practical terms, that often requires offsetting any new outlay by reducing spending elsewhere or generating new revenue. When mapped onto a bitcoin strategy, it means no direct purchases on exchanges with taxpayer money. Instead, the government has to be resourceful. The executive order establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve directs the U.S. Treasury to identify ways to accumulate bitcoin without spending new money.
There is precedence for this approach. In the past, Treasury has accumulated gold reserves through mechanisms such as mandatory exchange policies or accepting gold as payment for taxes and tariffs. This allowed the government to build significant reserves without explicit deficit financing, as the gold came from internal circulation or external trade rather than borrowing or direct expenditure.
Lawmakers and advisors have floated a variety of approaches for building up a bitcoin trove in a budget-neutral way. Some of these paths seem more immediate, such as simply holding seized coins. Others would require a serious overhaul of existing laws. For each method, the unifying theme is avoiding an open-market buy. Instead, the government would gather or swap its way to a robust reserve.