- Top asset managers have varied reactions to the US national BTC reserve.
- The current market expectation of the reserve was tepid, according to Polymarket’s expectations.
The crypto market is eyeing two major updates from Trump’s transition team: the choice of treasury ministers and the creation of a national Bitcoin [BTC] to book.
The latter is considered an important price driver for BTC, but has nevertheless led to mixed opinions among top asset managers in the sector.
According to Mathew Siggel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, the company fully supports the proposal. Siggel declared,
“VanEck Endorses Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
BlackRock’s mixed signals
There are mixed messages from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Earlier this week, reports suggested that the company supported the Bitcoin reserve proposal.
However, Fox Business’s Eleanor Terret has discredited the earlier reports, citing people close to sources close to BlackRock. She said,
“Sources close to BlackRock tell FoxBusiness that the big money manager is not endorsing a strategic $BTC reserve, despite recent reports that it is.”
That said, longtime BTC critic Peter Schiff recently claimed that the proposal could impact the US dollar and BTC itself if approved. Part of Schiff’s response read,
“Eventually, so many dollars would be printed to buy Bitcoin that the US would experience hyperinflation, making the dollar completely worthless. Once the dollar is worthless, the US can no longer continue buying Bitcoin.”
However, Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of BTC’s reserve proponents, was in favor sale of US gold reserves for Bitcoin.
The mixed views have made it difficult to gauge whether Trump will ultimately create the BTC reserve. In fact, at the time of writing, Polymarket’s odds of President-elect Trump being the reserve were less than 40%.
This could mean that a potential reserve was not priced in, according to Blockstream’s Adam Back. Back predicted that BTC could reach seven figures (+$1 million) if players were to lead the US reserve. He said,
“If the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve comes into being, prepare for 7-figure bitcoin this cycle. The market is currently skeptical about a meaningful follow-up process, so that is not priced in at all.”
That said, the coming days/weeks could provide more insight into whether President Trump will move forward with the proposal.