On Mar. 7, 2025, crypto investor and Wolf of All Streets podcast host Scott Melker dedicated a huge part of his Wolf Den newsletter to the meaning of the Bitcoin reserve launch and the public reaction to it. Later that day, he added several statements via his X account, explaining the importance of this historic event.
The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve creation
Donald Trump promised the launch of the Bitcoin stockpile during his speech in the summer of 2024 at the Nashville Bitcoin conference. Around the same time, Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced the BTC reserve bill, which suggested that the U.S. should acquire one million bitcoins over five years.
Expectations were high. Crypto X was full of posts with hopes that Trump would sign the Bitcoin reserve creation order right after the inauguration. The reality turned out to be less thrilling as Trump didn’t even mention crypto in his inauguration speech. However, he pardoned Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road, which he promised to do. The Bitcoin reserve plans were confirmed later, and Sen. Lummis joined the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets as a chair.
On Mar. 6, the executive order to establish a Bitcoin reserve was signed. The reserve turned out to be different from the one Lummis proposed. Its spirit is much closer to the initial Trump vision of a stockpile made up of the seized bitcoins that the government will not sell. The reserve will be growing via seizures and forfeitures so that it will not use the taxpayers’ money. More than that, the reserve can be increased using other avenues not associated with taxes.
Currently, the U.S. is holding around 200k bitcoins. The accurate amount is not clear yet, so the government is conducting an audit. The Digital Assets Stockpile was created on the same date. This one will include other cryptocurrencies, namely ETH, ADA, SOL, and XRP. Some allege there is a possibility for a conflict of interest as White House crypto czar David Sacks may indirectly profit from creating the reserve of these cryptocurrencies. Sacks denies these accusations.
Following the creation of the Bitcoin Reserve, the BTC price dropped by $5,000, while the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has always been perceived as a trigger that will let bulls out. Scott Melker explained why the price dropped and why the move was great despite the criticisms.
The price drop explained
Scott Melker decisively associates the price drop with the disappointment from those who were expecting that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve launch would be followed by buying Bitcoin in large amounts.
Melker starts his message in the newsletter with “we did it,” calling recognizing Bitcoin as a strategic asset”[America’s] biggest move yet in the Bitcoin game.” From the start, Melker states that other countries will have to follow suit in the Bitcoin race. He stresses that the U.S. will barely tolerate being second after China in terms of the BTC reserve. As of now, the U.S. reserve may be less than the Chinese one. It sets the stage for the global Bitcoin race that will move the price up in the long term.
Further, Melker explains that the difference between the Digital Assets Stockpile and the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve indicates that the U.S. explicitly considers Bitcoin the only cryptocurrency fitting the criteria of a strategic asset worth finding potential acquisition avenues.
“While some critics argue this doesn’t immediately impact the market because the government isn’t actively buying Bitcoin yet, they’re missing the long-term significance. The U.S. just signaled that Bitcoin is here to stay as a key financial asset, and history tells us that when America sets the standard, the rest of the world follows”.
As for the price drop, Melker throws in another factor, saying that when the big news “drops into an illiquid market — leverage flushes out weak hands.” Then, the bigger investors show up, moving the price up. And that’s what actually happened next. The Wolf of All Streets host continues by saying that the global demand for Bitcoin stimulated by the SBR launch will increase the upward pressure in the long term.
Other reactions
There were angry voices across the Internet after the details of the BTC reserve were revealed. Many people were disappointed by the decision not to spend tax money to buy more Bitcoin. Some don’t even see much difference between U.S. Marshalls holding seized bitcoins and the U.S. Treasury holding the same coins in the SBR.
Understandingly, Scott Melker confronted this point of view as it ignores what is written in the order, which doesn’t deny the future budget-neutral BTC acquisitions.
Jeff Park of Bitwise Invest dismissed the executive order, saying there was nothing strategic about it. Park said the entire SBR story turned out to be a major pump-and-dump chapter, and he is happy it’s over.
Many Bitcoin bulls praised the move, expressing little to no disappointment, calling the executive order historical. For instance, Senator Lummis voiced her full support for the move despite her project being rejected. The only concern she raised was the lack of congressional support for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
A prominent Bitcoin supporter using the moniker Bitcoin Therapist called the order “the most bullish news [he has] seen in the past four years.”
Anyways, the U.S. crossed the Rubicon. We’ll see what happens next.
