White House Adviser Sacks: US May Increase Bitcoin Holdings in a “Budget-Neutral” Manner

At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference, White House AI and cryptocurrency adviser David Sacks revealed that the US government might consider increasing its Bitcoin holdings using idle budget funds, provided it doesn’t raise taxes or increase national debt. However, Sacks emphasized that this plan would require approval from either the Treasury Secretary or the Commerce Secretary. He also noted that there is a precedent for this type of authorization, as the US currently holds about 198,000 Bitcoins, most of which were seized from the Silk Road marketplace.

David Sacks stated that the government could potentially use this “budget-neutral” approach to acquire more Bitcoin as a reserve asset. This statement was made during a fireside chat with Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Sacks stressed that while he couldn’t make any promises, the presidential executive order already grants the government this authority if funding can be found without adding new taxes or debt.

Sacks highlighted that the key factor is whether the Treasury or Commerce Department is willing to pursue this initiative. If they’re interested and can locate the funds, the plan would have the necessary presidential authorization.

On March 6, an executive order authorized the US government to create a cryptocurrency reserve and to hold any Bitcoin seized in criminal or civil asset forfeiture cases. Sacks noted that part of this order allows the government to purchase more Bitcoin if it can be done in a budget-neutral way.

According to CoinGecko’s April report, the US government currently holds about 198,012 Bitcoins, valued at over $21 billion at current prices. Most of this comes from the seizure of assets from the Silk Road darknet marketplace:

• In November 2020, US authorities seized 69,370 Bitcoins.
• In March 2022, they seized another 51,351 Bitcoins.
• On January 31, 2022, 94,636 Bitcoins were recovered from Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein.

Additionally, in March 2023, the US Department of Justice sold 9,861 Bitcoins for $215.7 million. In January of this year, the government received court approval to sell the remaining 198,109 Bitcoins.

✅ If implemented, this plan could signal a major shift in the US government’s strategy on Bitcoin and potentially have a significant impact on the global crypto market.