Bitcoin falls after hopes that purchases will boost Trump's strategic crypto reserve are dashed

Nora Redmond

Mon, Mar 10, 2025, 9:01 AM 2 min read

• Cryptocurrency prices dropped after Trump's strategic bitcoin reserve announcement.

• The reserve will include bitcoin already held by the US government, rather than new purchases.

• Other cryptocurrencies will go into a separate fund, Thursday's executive order indicated.

Cryptocurrency prices fell further on Monday amid disappointment with the plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve.

Bitcoin was down about 1.5% at 9:00 ET to just over $83,000 and has shed more than 8% since Thursday.

Ether is down about 5.5% over the same period, while XRP declined 2.5% and has shed more than 12% in the past five days.

Other cryptos will go into a separate fund rather than be combined with the bitcoin reserve. Some commentators has criticised the decision to put lesser-known coins into the fund.

President Donald Trump posted earlier this month that the reserve would make the US the "Crypto Capital of the World." However, the executive order he signed on Thursday indicated that the reserve will only include bitcoin already held by the government — mostly from asset forfeitures in criminal and civil cases.

Many in the crypto world thought bitcoin would be purchased to add to the fund. That seems unlikely in the short term, but the door has been left open.

"The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall develop strategies for acquiring additional Government BTC [bitcoin] provided that such strategies are budget neutral and do not impose incremental costs on United States taxpayers," the order stated.

David Sacks, the Trump administration's "crypto czar," wrote on X that using the government's bitcoin holdings meant the reserve "will not cost taxpayers a dime."

"The government will not acquire additional assets for the stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings."

Sacks has also ordered an audit of the government's crypto reserves, which he estimated at 200,000 bitcoin alone, BBC News reported. That holding would be worth about $16.5 billion.

Read the original article on Business Insider