Asset manager Bryan Courchesne recently appeared on CNBC to discuss Bitcoin’s potential to become a strategic reserve asset of the United States government under a future Trump administration.
According to the asset manager, adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a reserve asset would be difficult but not impossible. Courchesne pointed to the Department of Justice’s vast holdings of 200,000 BTC, making the US government the largest holder of Bitcoin behind its pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Courchesne explained that the Department of Justice could simply transfer the Bitcoin to the United States Department of the Treasury, paving the way for the Treasury to begin accumulating and holding the scarce asset long-term.
Bitcoin’s potential to become a global reserve asset
Speculation that Bitcoin may become a global reserve asset or a strategic US Treasury asset surged following former President Donald Trump’s announcement of support for the digital asset industry amid mounting worldwide debt and monetary inflation.
Trump’s pick of JD Vance, a 39-year-old Bitcoin holder, as his running mate also fueled speculation that a future Trump administration could mean a new era for crypto, in which Bitcoin becomes fully integrated into the current financial system.
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Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has also imagined a scenario in which widespread inflation and geopolitical instability drive the global population to Bitcoin as a haven to protect their life savings and purchasing power, elevating Bitcoin to the status of a global reserve currency organically. Data from high-inflation countries like Argentina, Venezuela and Turkey indicates this is already happening, as populations shift to cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation.
However, Ari Paul, founder of BlockTower Capital, disagrees. Paul believes that the odds are 10:1 against Bitcoin becoming a strategic reserve asset of the United States in the next four years. The entrepreneur explained that the US strategic reserve, a collection of assets held for use in case of national emergencies, may not be officially established even if a future president announces that the US would not sell its Bitcoin holdings.
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