The speech was the latest in Trump's efforts to attract cryptocurrency-focused voters ahead of the November election, with a series of campaign promises, including a national bitcoin reserve.
"If elected, it will be the policy of my administration to retain 100% of all bitcoin currently held or acquired by the U.S. government into the future," Trump said, adding that the funds would serve as "the core of a national strategic reserve of bitcoin."
Trump is not the only one to make such a proposal. U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced legislation that would require the U.S. government to purchase 1 million bitcoins, about 5% of the total supply, while independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested a government reserve of 4 million bitcoins.
A strategic reserve would be one of the uses for the large amount of bitcoin held by the U.S. government. However, the jury is still out on whether it is feasible or popular with the broader cryptocurrency market
