The US government is considering bold new ways to build a national bitcoin (BTC) reserve — and it might do so without touching taxpayer funds.
Officials from the Trump administration are brainstorming creative ways to fund the country’s growing interest in bitcoin. One of the most discussed ideas is using tariff revenues and revaluing old government-held gold certificates to buy BTC.
This plan, if followed, might make the U.S. a global leader in digital assets.
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to store BTC seized from criminal cases and acquire more using budget-neutral methods — meaning no added burden on taxpayers.
“If Donald Trump wants to make good on his promise to be a Bitcoin superpower, that ultimately comes down to how much bitcoin you have,” said Matthew Pines, Executive Director of the Bitcoin Policy Institute.
This vision of the U.S. as a “Bitcoin superpower” has officials thinking outside the box.
According to Bo Hines, Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisors on Digital Assets, one big option is using tariff revenue.
“We’re looking at many creative ways, whether it be from tariffs or something else,” Hines told Anthony Pompliano in an interview. “Everything is on the table. We want as much bitcoin as we can get, so we’re going to make sure that no stone is unturned.”
This aligns with Trump’s promise not to raise taxes. Tariffs—fees on imported goods—have been part of his “America First” trade policy. Since the government collects this money anyway, redirecting it towards bitcoin could be a smart use of funds already flowing into the Treasury.
But some critics point out that tariffs are often paid indirectly by American consumers, so they are unsure whether this is really cost-free.
Another proposal making the rounds in Washington is revaluing old U.S. gold certificates. These certificates, held by the Treasury, are currently valued at around $43 per ounce — way below gold’s market price of over $3,000 per ounce.
Related: Senator Lummis Proposes Selling Gold to Bolster Bitcoin Reserves
Revaluing them to match today’s prices could free up billions in paper gains. That money could then be used to buy bitcoin without selling any physical gold.
Bo Hines also talked about Senator Cynthia Lummis’ Bitcoin Act of 2025: “Senator Lummis has really an interesting idea … If you took that value, what you could do is use that extra funding in order to buy more bitcoin.”
Officials say these tactics serve more than just economic goals—they’re part of a bigger plan to make the U.S. the global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain.
Hines compared the bitcoin strategy to traditional gold accumulation, telling his audience to think of bitcoin as a modern-day store of value. He said the best way to understand Bitcoin is to think of it as digital gold.
Supporters say buying bitcoin now could hedge against future dollar weakness and make the U.S. the leader in finance.
“If the United States announces that we are buying a million Bitcoin, that’s just a global seismic shock,” said Zach Shapiro from the Bitcoin Policy Institute. “I think we’d probably go very quickly to something like a million dollars per Bitcoin.”
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