The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve made news on March 6, 2025, with an executive order that sets out how government-held Bitcoin may be managed and permits the development of budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin. The order does not establish an open-market purchasing program or specify an amount of additional Bitcoin to be acquired.
That framework has kept attention on the role that government demand could play alongside institutional and corporate interest in Bitcoin. It also provides the policy context for the $1.5 million Bitcoin bull case associated with Cathie Wood in reporting by TheStreet.
Under the order, the reserve is capitalized with Bitcoin held by the Treasury Department that has been finally forfeited through criminal or civil asset-forfeiture proceedings, or in satisfaction of certain civil money penalties. Agencies were directed to review their authority to transfer Government Bitcoin they hold to the reserve and report the results to the Treasury secretary.
Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is not to be sold and is to be maintained as a reserve asset of the United States, subject to applicable law. The order describes Bitcoin as having a permanently capped supply of 21 million coins and says the government holds a significant amount of BTC, without providing a total holdings figure.
Authority to Explore Additional Bitcoin Acquisition
The order directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to develop strategies for acquiring additional Government Bitcoin. Those strategies must be budget-neutral and must not impose incremental costs on U.S. taxpayers.
The accompanying White House fact sheet likewise states that Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral acquisition strategies. The directive addresses strategy development; it does not identify a purchase amount, schedule, or acquisition method.
The executive order treats the non-Bitcoin stockpile differently. It says the government will not acquire additional stockpile assets beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings or civil money penalties without further executive or legislative action. The Treasury secretary may determine stewardship strategies for that stockpile, including potential sales.
ARK’s Bitcoin Framework, What the News Says
A person holding a smartphone displaying a stock market chart for AAPL on the NASDAQ exchange
TheStreet reported that ARK Invest’s multi-scenario Bitcoin framework places its 2030 base case near $730,000 to $750,000 and its bull case at $1.5 million. The report described the bull case as resting on institutional adoption, Bitcoin’s fixed supply, and its emergence as a legitimate digital store of value.
Bitcoin’s 21 million-coin supply cap is stated in the executive order. The order also says that a fixed supply creates a strategic advantage for nations that are among the first to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Those statements explain why the reserve’s acquisition authority is relevant to the discussion of Bitcoin demand, even though the order does not set out an active buying program.
Bitcoin is trading above $75,000 at the time of writing, after trading below $65,000 four days earlier. Most news confirmed that Bitcoin was also traded near $35,000 four years earlier before reaching $126,000 in October 2025. Those figures provide context for the scale of a $1.5 million long-term bull case, but they do not establish a future outcome.
