Crypto-friendly U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has confirmed that funding for the proposed U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) could “begin at any time,” although bureaucratic hurdles are still delaying progress.
In an X post on Monday, Lummis noted that while the legislative process remains a “slog,” “thanks to President Trump, the acquisition of funds for an SBR can start anytime.”
Lummis’ remarks came in response to a post by ProCap BTC Chief Investment Officer Jeff Park, who shared a video of himself and Bitcoin advocate Anthony Pompliano discussing the potential of establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
In the discussion, Park speculated on what might happen if the U.S. government leveraged its roughly $1 trillion in unrealized gains from gold to reinvest in Bitcoin. He argued that, considering the government’s $37.88 trillion fiscal debt, deploying that $1 trillion would represent only a modest risk overall.
“If there’s a way to unlock and leverage the paper gains from gold to take a call option on Bitcoin, something incredible could happen,” Park said. “If you own Bitcoin and expect it to rise 12% per year, that could translate into a 30x return over 30 years.”
“It’s actually going to be able to cover most of the fiscal deficit hole that exists.”
In response, Lummis praised Park’s remarks, calling them “a fabulous articulation of why the SBR and passing the BITCOIN Act makes so much sense.”
The exact method of raising capital for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve remains unclear. According to the official government fact sheet, the reserve will initially be funded with Bitcoin already owned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury—assets seized through civil or criminal proceedings.
The document also notes that additional Bitcoin could be acquired through “budget-neutral mechanisms” that would “impose no incremental costs on American taxpayers.”
Government Bitcoin purchases on the horizon?
It has been seven months since President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. However, its full implementation has yet to be finalized, fueling ongoing speculation and debate over when it will officially launch.
Some market observers believe government Bitcoin purchases may be imminent. Speaking with CNBC over the weekend, Bitcoin advocate Anthony Pompliano highlighted three major developments the market is watching closely.
“The first is that the U.S. government, at some point, is going to announce that they’re buying Bitcoin,” Pompliano said. “Creating the initial strategic reserve and allocating the Bitcoin we already held was a good start—but that’s not the main course.”
“The main dish is when they start buying, and I think that will happen at some point.”
