Crypto analyst and Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser sarcastically suggests the U.S. government could start selling states to keep the strategic reserve ‘budget neutral,’ as more traders begin brainstorming ways for America to buy more BTC.
In a recent post, crypto analyst Max Keiser jested that selling certain U.S. states could help the Trump administration raise money to fund its national strategic reserve. AI and crypto czar David Sacks has made it clear that the BTC (BTC) reserve will not rely on taxpayer money to fund it.
“Selling Maine, Vermont & Massachusetts to buy Bitcoin is budget neutral,” Keiser said in his recent post. The idea of establishing a reserve of Bitcoin is not new to governments, as evidenced by El Salvador’s increasing position in the original cryptocurrency.
Keiser, a former Wall Street vet who currently serves as an advisor to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, has been bullish on Bitcoin since at least 2011, promoting it on his wildly influential show the Keiser Report that aired on Russia Today.
Other less sarcastic proposals have floated ways of creating a budget-neutral Bitcoin reserve. In a recent crypto.news op-ed, the idea of auctioning the nation’s naming rights to national landmarks, parks, lakes and rivers was posited.
“Auctioning off naming rights to national landmarks offers a proactive, budget-neutral boost, echoing President Trump’s call to harness digital assets for American prosperity.”
“It’s a blueprint that exists in sports. Naming rights have long turned stadiums into cash cows without diluting their purpose.”
In fact, Crypto.com has already taken that step when it acquired the naming rights to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California to Crypto.com Arena in 2021. And Trump has already given the green light to rename other national monuments, rebranding the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America earlier this year. The logic follows that by auctioning the naming rights to the Mississippi River or the Great Lakes, the Fed could attract BTC for the reserve by virtue of leasing their naming rights to major crypto entities.
Others such as Bitcoin analyst Jimmy Song have pointed to alternatives like selling federal assets such as land, gold and unused buildings to gain funds to buy more Bitcoin for the national strategic reserve, though this would require Congressional approval.
In addition, he also suggested selling or privatizing public services such as the postal service or Amtrak, as well as leasing mineral rights on federal land.
Analyst and Muse Labs founder Jiang Jinze also suggested selling federal assets, putting extra emphasis on gold because he believes its value is most in line with Bitcoin considering how they follow similar trends.
Another idea he pitched to traders through his translated X post is for the U.S. government to start mining its own BTC, similar to how Bhutan has begun to adopt a state-supported crypto mining mechanism for years to boost its crypto reserves.
Where the US stands in terms of BTC holdings
According to analysts, less than half of the 200,000 BTC trove can be considered “real reserves.” This is because the U.S. government is obligated to return much of it to various entities.
Last January, the U.S. federal court ruled that 94,643 BTC stolen from the 2016 Bitfinex hack must be returned to the exchange. The U.S. government currently holds the stolen Bitfinex crypto funds after it was seized by authorities.
In 2014, the US government in a sealed bid sold over 29,000 Bitcoins it held to financier Tim Draper.
A move Keiser commented on as well.
With the White House crypto summit looming on the horizon, in addition to the official establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve yesterday, analysts are now wondering how a budget-neutral approach to padding the Fed’s coffers can assist in making the US a global cryptocurrency powerhouse.
