Strategic Bitcoin Reserve The “Only Solution” To Offset US’ “Burgeoning Debt,” Says Sen. Lummis

Senator Cynthia Lummis says that a national strategic Bitcoin reserve could assist in tackling the US’ “burgeoning” debt. 

“I truly believe the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is the only solution to offset our national debt,” she said in an X post earlier today. She then praised the Donald Trump administration for embracing the idea of a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), and said she looks forward “to getting it done.” 

Despite her comments, the price of Bitcoin has slipped over 2% in the past 24 hours amid a broader crypto market selloff. Bitcoin is now down more than 10% on the weekly time frame as a result, according to CoinMarketCap. 

US Looking At Ways To Build Bitcoin Reserve Beyond Gold Revaluation

In the X post, Senator Lummis included an interview she had with Bloomberg. 

During the interview, Lummis was asked if she had seen any “traction” around officials’ proposal to reevaluate the US’ gold to fund the reserve. Senator Lummis replied by saying that she has not seen any progress yet. 

“I think the administration is looking at ideas other than using our gold certificates, marking them to market, and then converting them to Bitcoin,” she said.

“There are other ways to have a strategic Bitcoin reserve other than converting our gold certificates,” she added. 

Senator Lummis then welcomed the support of  US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House staff, who she says are working through the details around how the BSR would be funded. 

Senator Lummis Says SBR Buying Could Start At Any Time

The interview comes after Lummis signaled urgency around the proposed strategic Bitcoin reserve last month, which President Trump signed an executive order to create earlier this year. She said that the buying framework for the reserve could begin at any time, and credited Trump for creating the conditions to move quickly. 

Senator Lummis has described the legislative process as slow, but said that the funding mechanism for the SBR does not have to wait. 

Questions around how the reserve will be financed remain, especially since Senator Lummis has not provided a comprehensive plan on how the government would capitalize the reserve. 

According to a March fact sheet from the administration, the initial funding for the reserve would be Bitcoin that is already controlled by the US Treasury through criminal and civil forfeitures. 

The fact sheet added that more Bitcoin could be added to the SBR through “budget-neutral strategies” that don’t lead to new costs for taxpayers. 

If the US does fund its SBR with seized Bitcoin at the beginning, the US would have one of the largest sovereign holdings globally. This comes after the record-breaking forfeiture of nearly 130,000 BTC tied to criminal cases. At current prices, this Bitcoin is valued at more than $34 billion. 

Despite the urgency from Lummis, traders on the decentralized predictions market Polymarket are not that confident that the SBR will be created this year. 

Contract asking if the US SBR will be created in 2025 (Source: Polymarket)

A contract asking whether the US national Bitcoin reserve will be established in 2025 shows that Polymarket traders see just an 8% chance of this happening. This is a 5% drop in odds over the past month, a 3% decrease in the past week, and a 1% drop in the past 24 hours. 

US National Debt Hits Record High

The push to create a SBR comes as the US’ national debt soars to record highs. 

According to data from US Debt Clock, the national debt stands at more than $38.1 trillion. This equates to around $110,994 of debt per US citizen. 

US national debt (Source: US Debt Clock)

The US debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio has also soared from 55.50% to 120.95% since the year 2000. 

In addition to the soaring debt, the US government has been shut down for 35 days as well, making this the longest government shutdown on record. 

The shutdown was triggered because Congress failed to pass the necessary appropriations bill to fund the government for the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1.