Trump: "Don't Sell Bitcoin... Build 'Digital Fortress'"

U.S. President Donald Trump has presented a blueprint for a strategic reserve plan for Bitcoin. He has expressed his intention to recognize Bitcoin as 'digital gold' and to store it as a national strategic asset. At the cryptocurrency summit at the White House on 7 (local time), President Donald Trump declared, "Last year, I promised to turn the United States into a Bitcoin superpower and the capital of cryptocurrency, and I signed an executive order on strategic reserves to achieve that goal. In the future, we will build a digital Fort Knox (a base of the US military and the gold reserve of the Department of the Treasury) for strategic Bitcoin reserves. President Trump signed an executive order the day before to convert about 200,000 Bitcoins secured through federal civil and criminal forfeiture procedures into strategic reserves. He also hinted at the possibility of expanding Bitcoin strategic reserves. Trump said, "Never sell Bitcoin", and added, "In the future, we plan to explore ways to hold more Bitcoin without using taxes through cooperation with the Treasury and Commerce departments, and other seized cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin will be held as new reserves". He also declared an end to the oppressive policies of the Biden administration towards the cryptocurrency industry. President Trump emphasized, "I will terminate Chokepoint 2.0 (an order to block banking services for cryptocurrency companies) of my predecessor, President Joe Biden," adding, "Regulations must be terminated to prevent hindering cryptocurrency innovation." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who also participated in this event, added, "The Biden administration does nothing but attack and punish innovators in the industry." It is known that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency has filed lawsuits against several cryptocurrency companies under the Biden administration, has halted 11 lawsuits and related investigations since President Donald Trump took office. He also mentioned efforts to promote the cryptocurrency industry, including stablecoin regulations. "Cryptocurrencies are leading the way on a path that can help economic growth and innovation. Among them, stablecoins will help establish the US dollar as the dominant currency," he said, adding, "To support this, we aim to pass legislation related to stablecoins before the national assembly's recess in August." Although President Donald Trump has organized the first 'Cryptocurrency Summit' at the White House and expressed his commitment to strategic cryptocurrency reserves, the market reaction was somewhat indifferent. This is understood as investors' disappointment that he did not mention specific cryptocurrency purchase plans as they had predicted. Bitcoin, trading at around $88,000 before the Cryptocurrency Summit, dropped to $86,000 after President Trump's speech.