CryptoBriefing and crypto.news both cover Bitget CEO Gracy Chen's comments on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve but disagree on whether the March 2025 executive order permits any acquisition mechanism beyond forfeiture.
What all sources agree on
- Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said she does not expect the US government to buy Bitcoin for the reserve before the end of Trump's current term.
- The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established by an executive order signed on March 6, 2025.
- The reserve currently holds Bitcoin obtained through forfeiture rather than open-market purchases.
- The order prohibits the government from selling Bitcoin held in the reserve.
- No taxpayer funds are currently being used to buy Bitcoin for the reserve, and no active purchase program has been established.
- Any program involving new federal spending or a formal purchase mandate would require Congressional action.
Where the reports disagree
1Does the executive order permit any Bitcoin acquisition mechanism beyond seizure/forfeiture?
The executive order establishing it, signed on March 6, 2025, explicitly limits the reserve to Bitcoin seized or forfeited through criminal and civil asset proceedings. No taxpayer money goes in. No market orders get placed.
The White House did not completely prohibit the government from obtaining more BTC. Instead, the order directed the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop acquisition strategies that are budget-neutral and impose no additional costs on taxpayers.
What would settle it: The full text of the March 6, 2025 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.
What to make of it
Treat as established that no open-market Bitcoin purchases are happening now and that Chen views near-term buying as unlikely; the specific question of whether the executive order itself authorizes a future non-forfeiture acquisition mechanism is contested and would need to be checked against the order's actual text.
Treat as established that no open-market Bitcoin purchases are happening now and that Chen views near-term buying as unlikely; the specific question of whether the executive order itself authorizes a future non-forfeiture acquisition mechanism is contested and would need to be checked against the order's actual text.