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ARTICLE · 23 APRIL 2025

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Bitcoin As A Strategic Reserve: Policy, Legal, And Compliance Implications

Gesmer Updegrove LLP
Gesmer Updegrove LLP
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Nations have long maintained strategic reserves of critical commodities – from gold and oil to currency and grain – as safeguards for economic security.

United StatesTechnology
Braeden Anderson
Braeden Anderson

Introduction: Nations have long maintained strategic reserves of critical commodities – from gold and oil to currency and grain – as safeguards for economic security. In recent years, Bitcoin's fixed supply and resilience have prompted comparisons to "digital gold," fueling debate over its role as a sovereign reserve asset. This theoretical debate moved into practice on March 6, 2025, when a U.S. Executive Order established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and companion U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, formally recognizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as strategic national assets. The United States government, which already held a significant cache of Bitcoin (over 207,000 BTC, worth ~$17 billion as of mid-March 2025, largely from law enforcement forfeitures), signaled its intent to consolidate and manage these holdings as a long-term reserve rather than liquidating them at auction. This policy pivot – treating decentralized bearer assets like Bitcoin as strategic

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