US Could Sell Its Gold To Set Up Potential Bitcoin Reserve, Says Bernstein: Will It Ignite A 'Global Race' To Buy BTC?

The cryptocurrency task force constituted under President Donald Trump is setting its sights on creating a national Bitcoin BTC/USD reserve, according to a Monday research report by brokerage firm Bernstein.

What Happened: The establishment of such a stockpile could ignite a “global race” among nations to acquire Bitcoin as a reserve asset, CoinDesk reported, citing the Bernstein analyst note.

The analysis pondered over the question of who between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department would carry out the potential purchases. If it falls under the Federal Reserve’s purview, legislative approval would be necessary.

Bernstein considered the Federal Reserve’s options for financing these purchases, including raising debt or selling gold reserves.

The report also suggested that the U.S. government could supplement the national reserve with the Bitcoin it has confiscated from criminal activities.

See Also: PlanB Shifts Bitcoin Holdings To ETFs Saying He’s No Longer A ‘Maxi’ — Peter Schiff Reacts: Apex Crypto ‘Not Fulfilling Its Supposed Purpose’

Why It Matters: All these findings aligned with the legislation proposed by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy.) that advocates the purchase of 1 million Bitcoins over five years. The bill pushes for leveraging gold certificates, held at the Federal Reserve's 12 banks, to fund future acquisitions.

Interestingly, after assuming office, Trump signed an executive order to evaluate the creation of a "strategic national digital assets stockpile” and not just a Bitcoin stockpile.

The Fed has stated previously that it was not permitted to acquire Bitcoin and was not looking for a law change.

Some analysts that Benzinga spoke to earlier were skeptical of the U.S. selling gold to fund Bitcoin purchases, stating that the American public won’t “tolerate” that.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $95,859.03, down 0.26% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Image Via Shutterstock

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