US President Donald Trump wants to make his country a “Bitcoin superpower,” but the question remains as to who he is competing against.
Speaking at Blockwork’s Digital Asset Summit on March 20 to a crowd of crypto industry executives and observers, he said, “Together we will make America the undisputed Bitcoin (BTC) superpower and the crypto capital of the world.”
The US crypto industry has benefited greatly from preferential executive orders coming out of Trump’s White House, including the establishment of a “strategic Bitcoin reserve” — a move advocates regard as a key metric for Bitcoin adoption.
However, many other countries, including major US trade partners, are just not ready to take on Bitcoin as a reserve asset, begging the question of who the US is competing against to become a “Bitcoin superpower.”
US allies, trade partners and rivals aren’t competing on Bitcoin
Compared to major trade partners and geopolitical rivals, the US is certainly far ahead of the game in terms of Bitcoin adoption. Neither the European Union, China, Mexico nor Canada have taken such drastic steps toward institutionalizing the asset.
China, the US’ largest trade partner by far and also its most prominent geopolitical opponent, has taken a strong stance against the asset, initially banning it outright before softening its approach slightly. China now allows mining operations but strictly prohibits the use of Bitcoin.
Overall, the government has preferred to concentrate its efforts on developing a retail central bank digital currency in the form of the digital yuan.
The European Union, another major US trade partner, passed its Markets in Crypto-Assets regulatory framework in May 2023, which came into full implementation by member states at the end of 2024.
While the EU is ahead of the US in terms of passing concrete legislation, it offers far less preferential terms to the industry than those expected in the US’ parallel legislation currently circulating in Congress.
Crypto user penetration in the EU is expected to remain essentially stagnant this year, and cryptocurrency’s popularity is low overall among its wealthiest economies. No member state has a Bitcoin reserve.
Even in crypto-friendly Switzerland, which saw $52.4 billion in US service exports in 2024, there are limits to crypto endorsement and adoption. On March 1, Swiss National Bank President Martin Schlegel said Bitcoin wasn’t suitable as a reserve asset, citing stability, liquidity concerns and security risks.
Germany’s central bank chief, Joachim Nagel, has also dismissed the idea of a Bitcoin reserve, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously criticized Bitcoin as being a poor form of money.
Related: What Canada’s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto
South Korea doesn’t feel ready to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, with the Bank of Korea stating that BTC is volatile and does not meet International Monetary Fund standards.
Russia, for its part, has allowed crypto to be used in international settlements to circumvent sanctions. The central bank is also preparing a three-year experiment to allow select investors to trade crypto. Some legal scholars in the country have suggested establishing a crypto fund consisting of assets seized in criminal proceedings, although the Duma has yet to form one.
Critics and proponents lambast “strategic Bitcoin Reserve”
Critics have questioned the strategic value of the US Bitcoin reserve and who it benefits in the long run.
Cornell economics professor Eswar Prasad said, “This is neither a strategic nor sensible idea but instead benefits bitcoin holders while sticking US taxpayers with the bill and exposing the government to financial risks. The US government would become a key driver of bitcoin’s price on the way up and down.”
As noted by TLDR News, the point of most strategic reserves is to stock commodities that are deemed critically important to the function of a country’s economy. Governments can also create them to stabilize the price of goods that are in high demand. The US has strategic reserves of oil and grain, while China even has a strategic pork stockpile.
The Bitcoin strategic reserve does neither of these, as there is no great demand among Americans for Bitcoin, and Bitcoiners certainly don’t want the price to remain stable.
George Selgin, a senior fellow and director emeritus at the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, said the reserve’s stated goal of helping pay off US national debt was unrealistic.
“The plan’s million-coin stash would have to more than double in value during its 20-year holding period just to compensate for the plan’s implicit interest cost. Second, the stockpile must eventually be sold to realize the gains, and you can bet that the same bitcoin holders who have managed to get the government to keep the bitcoin it already has will cry foul if it ever tries to sell any new coins it acquires,” he stated.
Claims of it serving as a digital Fort Knox are “just as dubious,” he said, as the gold contained therein hasn’t propped up the value of the dollar since Richard Nixon was president and took the dollar off of the gold standard.
Even Bitcoiners have taken a crack at the reserve. Charles Edwards, founder of Bitcoin and digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments, criticized the “hold only” policy of the reserve, calling it “disappointing” and a “pig in lipstick.”
Source: Charles Edwards
The reserve even proved to be something of a non-starter for Bitcoin price, with price action remaining relatively stable after Trump signed the executive order on March 6.
As it stands, the US is leading a race that no one else is running. But things could change quickly. Right-wing parties sympathetic to the creation of Bitcoin reserves have been on the rise in European elections.
Brazil, a major economy in the Western hemisphere, has also been weighing the possibility of a Bitcoin reserve.
Furthermore, the US Bitcoin reserve allows the Treasury to purchase Bitcoin so long as it can do so in a budget-neutral manner that doesn’t come at a cost to taxpayers. The full effect of the reserve, and its influence on Bitcoin adoption, may yet be felt.
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