Fred Thiel: U.S. Bitcoin Reserve Needs Action, Not Just Promises

“A strategic reserve is just talk until you put real bitcoin behind it,” Thiel says at Bitcoin 2025.

LAS VEGAS — Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel is urging the U.S. government to stop delaying and start actively building the country’s strategic bitcoin reserve—beginning with domestic mining.

During a panel at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Thiel challenged the Trump administration to follow through on its March executive order, which outlined plans for a strategic reserve but left details vague. He suggested the government could begin acquiring bitcoin in a “budget-neutral” way by tapping unused hydroelectric energy sources for mining operations.

“Announcing a reserve means nothing if there’s no plan to stock it,” Thiel emphasized. “You have to actually begin acquiring bitcoin.”

Currently, the reserve includes only the bitcoin seized by the U.S. government—estimated at around 200,000 BTC—gathered from criminal and civil forfeitures. But leaders in both the private and public sectors agree that relying on confiscated coins isn’t enough.

Policy Support Builds Behind the Scenes

Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), a longtime proponent of bitcoin, has reintroduced the BITCOIN Act of 2025, which aims to formalize the reserve strategy. Her proposal includes transferring the forfeited BTC into the reserve, followed by a phased acquisition program funded through underperforming federal assets, such as gold certificates.

“We don’t have to allocate new money,” Lummis said. “We could secure about 5% of global bitcoin supply using existing, underutilized holdings.”

Still, Lummis acknowledged that broader legislative momentum is slow. With Congress focused on passing stablecoin and market structure bills, meaningful steps toward expanding the bitcoin reserve may not come until later in the year.

“It’s proving more difficult than expected,” she said. “Bitcoin still isn’t fully understood on Capitol Hill.”

With growing frustration among industry leaders and lawmakers, the message from the crypto community is clear: It’s time for the U.S. to stop waiting and start actively building a strategic foothold in the digital asset future.

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