Trump should do the hard thing and admit that bitcoin is a currency that competes with the dollar.
The performance of strategic "crypto" reserves in the private sector has been an abysmal failure for a decade.
— Marty Bent (@MartyBent) March 2, 2025
It will be no different when applied to the nation state level.
Focus on building your personal bitcoin reserve. Everything else is noise. https://t.co/nAAnOGUS4G
"Are you not entertained?!" - Maximus Decimus Meridius, 180 AD (in the movie)
Nothing like a Sunday morning message from the President of the United States of America proclaiming that the he intends to build a "strategic crypto reserve" that includes *checks notes* ripple, cardano and solana with bitcoin and ether at its core. The only markets trading at the time of Trump's Truth Social posts were bitcoin and the affinity scams in crypto and they all pumped massively with the shitcoins that Trump mentioned outperforming bitcoin for the day.
No matter where you fall on the spectrum of hardcore bitcoin rationalist (me) to degenerate shitcoiner, we can all agree on one thing; today was certainly entertaining. Trump is clearly out of his depth when it comes to bitcoin policy and feels obliged (or potentially financially incentivized) to give the broader "crypto" industry some attention alongside the best money that humanity has ever come into contact with.
While today was entertaining, it was a starkly different type of entertainment compared to the displays of physical strength and brute force Maximus showed in the ring. Maximus fought to avenge the murder of his wife and son and defend the legacy of honor and nobility that Marcus Aurelius stood for. Today's market moving stunt from President Trump came off as a desperate attempt to artificially pump one of the core KPIs his administration has selected during his second term; the price of bitcoin and shitcoins.
The dust is still settling and there are some upcoming summits on Capitol Hill pertaining to the subject of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. So I will show the president some grace and leave room in the conversation to consider that today's messaging may have simply been a tactic he deploys almost daily; assert something obviously absurd and offensive toward a counterpart in a negotiation and use that as an extreme anchoring point from which the other side "meets in the middle" on an agreement that is actually exactly what he wanted in the first place.
Right now, there are three obvious possible outcomes of the strategic reserve; it doesn't happen at all because the mechanics prove to be non-existent, we get a strategic bitcoin reserve by creating the mechanics, or we get a diversified reserve portfolio of bitcoin and "blue chip altcoins" created by individuals and companies who are throwing obscene amounts of money at lobbying the Trump administration. Time will tell.
With all of that being said, there is another - somewhat non-obvious - option on the table that I believe can accomplish the stated overarching goal of the Trump admin (Make America Great Again™), simply get out of the way and let the American people do their thing. Swallow the hard pill of admitting that bitcoin is a currency that directly competes with the dollar and signal that you are okay with people deciding to use it. Eliminate capital gains taxes on bitcoin. And enshrine the rights of self-custody and private usage into law.
If President Trump does these three things he will find that a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve may not even be necessary (though, I do think it is a tool that should be leveraged to solve the runaway debt issue). If the American people - the smartest people on the planet - are given the ability to accumulate bitcoin at an individual level and incorporate it into their businesses, the current administration will be pleasantly surprised by what that does to many facets of the economy.
If you look at the market now this is already happening, but the industry making this happen is doing so with one hand tied behind its back because of the inability of every administration that has been in office since January 2009 to confront the boogeyman; bitcoin is money that competes with the dollar.
Trump will be able to cement himself as one of the bravest and boldest presidents to hold office if he rips this band aid off and let's the American people go to work. The true bitcoin strategic reserve of the United States is spread across the balance sheets and wallets of individuals and businesses across the country.
The strength of Bitcoin lies not just in its code, but in its community. Throughout our conversation, Ian Carroll highlighted how Bitcoiners appear "calmer" and more resilient than most Americans, largely because they've found a path beyond traditional financial stress. This peace of mind spreads through physical connection. As I explained to Ian, during COVID lockdowns when most gatherings stopped, Bitcoin meetups in Austin continued uninterrupted, becoming a beacon that attracted people from across the country who eventually relocated here. This organic, grassroots approach has become central to Bitcoin's resilience.
"Every single time that one of these bottom-up solutions like Bitcoin is invented, you never go back behind that threshold." - Ian Carroll
The decentralized nature of our meetup culture perfectly mirrors Bitcoin itself. I've witnessed this evolution firsthand since starting a New York meetup in 2015, seeing how these gatherings have spawned innovation, collaboration, and education. Unlike traditional events requiring central organizers, Bitcoin meetups emerge spontaneously when community members take initiative. This shared ownership creates stronger bonds and better results—a living demonstration of Bitcoin's core principles.
TLDR: Bitcoin thrives through community meetups that mirror its decentralized nature
Check out the full podcast for more on Sam Bankman-Fried's suspicious rise, Trump's approach to digital currencies, and the concerning emergence of pre-crime surveillance technologies.
Parker Lewis published Bitcoin is Money (&) Currency - via TFTC
Trump Announces Crypto Strategic Reserve - via X
Peter Schiff Admits Bitcoin is Digital Gold - via X
Armstrong: 'Just Bitcoin' Best for US Crypto Strategic Reserve - via X
A private key is a random 256-bit number, typically shown in hexadecimal format, that gives you access to Bitcoin. This seemingly simple number is the foundation of Bitcoin's security system. You can generate a private key by flipping a coin 256 times, using cryptographically secure random functions in programming, or hashing sufficiently random data with SHA-256. The key must be truly random to be secure.
The security depends on the astronomical range of possible keys (about 10^77). The chance of anyone generating your exact key is practically zero, making properly generated keys virtually unguessable. This decentralized system allows anyone to create their own Bitcoin "account" without centralized control, which is fundamental to Bitcoin's design philosophy.
For safety, always use truly random generation methods, verify the key is within valid range, and never generate or input your keys on websites. Anyone who obtains your private key gains complete access to your Bitcoin.
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