Alex Thorn of Galaxy Digital said there is a “strong chance” the United States government will announce the formation of its highly anticipated Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by the end of this year.
The reserve draws parallels to traditional strategic reserves maintained by the federal government, such as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Strategic Gold Reserve, which is held at the U.S. Bullion Depository in Fort Knox.
U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Could be Established in 2025, but Concerns Remain over Its Feasibility
In a Thursday X post, the head of research at Galaxy Digital noted that the market is “completely underpricing” the likelihood of such a historical development. Thorn’s optimistic assessment comes six months after President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order formally establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile; however, a robust plan is yet to be announced.
The EO marked a dramatic shift in the federal government’s approach towards cryptocurrencies, putting an end to its previous practice of selling digital assets seized as part of civil forfeitures and criminal lawsuits through public auctions. Instead, they will be used to capitalize the Bitcoin and crypto stockpile.
The U.S. government is the world’s largest known state holder of Bitcoin, with an estimated 198,000 BTC in its coffers as of August 2025. Trump’s EO prohibits the Department of Justice (DoJ), which oversees the management of some of these assets under its Digital Asset Forfeiture Programfrom selling the bitcoins, instead directing the agency to explore options to transfer them to the newly established reserve. Furthermore, the Treasury and Commerce Departments have been asked to draw up “budget-neutral” plans to acquire additional coins without any incremental cost to taxpayers.
The White House has also assigned third-party institutional crypto custodians to provide secure custody, wallet management, and liquidation services for the assets. The government’s holdings are scattered across multiple federal agencies, leading to a non-cohesive approach, where the option to maximize their value and security has been left unexplored. Once established, the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets will have regulatory oversight of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile.
The executive order proposed a 30-day deadline to account for all digital assets held by the various federal agencies and evaluate the authority for their transfer, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were tasked with proposing relevant legislation within 60 days. However, both deadlines have passed without any public announcements or apparent action from the agencies, raising doubts about whether the reserve will ever come to fruition.
This also coincided with a significant shift in the regulatory approach toward crypto assets, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scaling back its enforcement actions against digital asset firms by previous administrations, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classifying crypto as digital commodities, and the passage of the GENIUS Act – the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoins – in July. These moves signalled a broader pro-crypto stance from the Trump administration, a far cry from his first term at the White House.
Treasury Dept. to Submit Feasibility and Technical Report on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to Congress in 90 Days
Recently, there have been a couple of important developments that suggest the plan is in progress. On Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers introduced a House Appropriations Bill directing the Treasury to produce a report on the feasibility and technical considerations of the proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within 90 days. Meanwhile, in July, the President’s Digital Assets Working Group published a crypto policy report, where it confirmed that it is still keen on formalizing the reserve.
Not all market experts are in line with Thorn’s projections, with Dave Weisburger, former chairman of CoinRoutes, claiming that it is more likely to happen in 2026. He also added that the Trump White House is “too smart to announce anything” until after they reach their initial accumulation target.
Some prominent Bitcoin advocates fear that the U.S. risks falling behind other nation-states if it delays the accumulation process any further. Jan3 founder Samson Mow warned in June that the government has to start acquiring Bitcoin this year or risk being front-run by other nations, such as Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, and Pakistan, which are exploring a crypto strategic reserve.
BITCOIN Act and State-Level Bitcoin Reserve Legislation are Progressing
Congressional support for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has gained significant momentum, with Senator Cynthia Lummis introducing the “Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide” Act, Aka BitcoiN Actjust five days after Trump’s executive order. If passed, the comprehensive legislation would codify the EO’s provisions and establish a more robust framework for federal bitcoin acquisition and management.
The BITCOIN Act proposes authorizing the Treasury Department to purchase up to 1 million BTC over five years through various methods and hold them for at least 20 years. The bill mandates that these bitcoins be stored in a digital equivalent of ‘Fort Knox’, where the country’s gold reserves are held, with limited ability to be sold. It also requires consolidating all government-controlled Bitcoin into the strategic reserve and implementing a blockchain-based Proof-of-Reserve audit system for transparency.
Several states have also followed through on the move by advancing their own Bitcoin reserve legislation to position themselves as crypto-friendly jurisdictions. These state-level initiatives serve both as a program to diversify their financial strategies and a marketing tool to attract crypto-related businesses and talent. As of September 2025, three U.S. states have passed laws related to strategic Bitcoin reserves: New Hampshire, Arizona, and Texas.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $116,053, up 0.91% in the last 24 hours.
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