Donald Trump promised a Bitcoin Reserve – So why hasn’t the U.S. bought any BTC yet?

18 months have handed since President Donald Trump signed an government order to ascertain the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within the U.S. On sixth March, 2025, President Trump directed the federal authorities to deal with Bitcoin [BTC] as a strategic reserve asset.

Nevertheless, the order didn’t instruct the federal government to buy Bitcoin with taxpayer funds. As a substitute, it created the reserve primarily by consolidating Bitcoin that the federal government already owned after it had been forfeited by means of legal or civil proceedings.

What went incorrect?

These holdings have been to be transferred into the reserve and, typically, not bought. As of now, the U.S. authorities reportedly holds round 328,000 BTC, largely from seizures and forfeitures, whereas governments globally maintain about 435,000 BTC.

The order did, nonetheless, depart the door open for the federal government to accumulate extra Bitcoin. It instructed the secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to develop methods for acquiring extra BTC, however with a significant situation.

And that included the administration exploring methods of accelerating the reserve with out merely appropriating taxpayer cash to purchase Bitcoin on the open market.

Faux guarantees or a real pro-crypto transfer?

As reported by the CoinBureau exec, 

The US authorities didn’t abruptly rush to a crypto trade and purchase BTC by the bucketload. In reality, it purchased none in anyway.

In brief, there was a niche between expectations and what the chief order truly promised. Although Trump made a major pro-Bitcoin coverage transfer by institutionalizing a U.S. Bitcoin reserve, the order didn’t commit taxpayer cash to buying Bitcoin.

So, now the true query is whether or not the administration will in the end flip the reserve from a pool of seized BTC into an actively rising strategic holding.

Bitcoin’s value motion and extra

This comes as Bitcoin was buying and selling at $83,145.01 at press time after a drop of 26% up to now yr.

In the meantime, Trump Media just lately bought 2,650 BTC price $205 million after accumulating 11,542 BTC at a mean value of $118,522, whereas its Bitcoin place was down roughly $455 million.

On the similar time, the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve invoice, H.R. 8957, or the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) of 2026, was set for consideration by the Home Monetary Companies Committee on the sixteenth of September.

With the midterm elections approaching, prediction markets put its possibilities of changing into legislation in 2026 at simply 5–6%, down sharply from 60% in December 2025.

Closing Abstract

• Again in March 2025, President Trump directed the federal authorities to deal with Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.
• Although Trump made a major pro-Bitcoin coverage transfer, the order didn’t commit taxpayer cash to buying Bitcoin.