Hey everyone. This morning we delivered a newsletter that stated the US will not be buying net-new bitcoin as part of its strategic reserve. This is a mischaracterization on our part, and we apologize for the error.

The piece has been updated to include this detail:

“The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers.”

This is Opening Bell Daily’s first editorial correction in nearly 300 editions. We are working hard to get better each day. Thank you for understanding!

Unpacking the bitcoin reserve

Bitcoiners finally got their wish. 

The US government has officially recognized the world’s largest cryptocurrency as a strategic asset. 

…but then the price dropped after the announcement.

Late Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a US strategic bitcoin reserve.

At first glance, the move marks the most significant institutional endorsement of the asset to date — it cements bitcoin as a store of value, places it squarely in government coffers, and makes a clear distinction between bitcoin and other tokens. 

Long-term, it sets a precedent for other countries to follow. In that sense the tailwind is clear. 

The details beneath the headline might explain why markets reacted with a whimper. 

White House Crypto Czar David Sacks said the reserve will be funded exclusively with bitcoin seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases. 

“The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks wrote on X. 

Translation: The US won’t be buying bitcoin — only confiscating it, at least at first.

Later down the line, though, the order left room for potential buying.

In the White House’s words:

“The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers.”

The order also prohibits the government from selling bitcoin from the reserve, which in theory reinforces the scarcity narrative. Estimates suggest the US holds about 200,000 bitcoins right now. 

Those ideas together make the US a curious type of market participant — it’s passively accumulating without buying, and appreciating without plans to take profits. 

Despite the initial “sell the news” response, these developments are undeniably bullish in the long term.

Market snapshot:

Elsewhere:

📊 US unemployment rate is seen hitting 4.0% in February. That’s the median estimate for the jobs report, according to FactSet. That would match the previous month, and be slightly below the trailing 12-month average of 4.1%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release this number, as well as the non-farm payrolls data, this morning. (FactSet)

📉 The S&P 500 is breaking down. The market benchmark tumbled again Thursday and tested its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2023. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq entered correction territory. Stocks rallied overnight, however, and futures turned green. (CNBC)

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About me:

📰 I’m Phil Rosen, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Opening Bell Daily. I’ve published books, lived on three continents, and won awards for my journalism, which has appeared in Business Insider, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg and Inc. Magazine.

I write our flagship newsletter to prepare you for each trading day, unpacking markets, economic data and Wall Street with analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Feedback?

Write me at phil@openingbellmedia.com, reply directly to this email, or ping me on X @philrosenn.