US Government BTC Reserves Called into Question

Welcome to the Rhino Roundup!

Every week, we dive into the most interesting developments across the Bitcoin ecosystem to keep you updated and in the know.

This week, we’re covering:

1. Does the government own 86% less Bitcoin than previously thought?

2. What if the ‘Genius Act’ is not all its cracked up to be?

3. How Jack Dorsey is helping make Bitcoin ‘antifragile’.

P.S. We’re also giving away $100 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner (details below).

1. US Government’s Bitcoin Holdings Down 86%?

Under Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve order, the U.S. can now accumulate Bitcoin budget-neutrally, but until now, it has primarily built its reserves through seizures and forfeitures

This can occur via numerous agencies such as the IRS, DOJ, FBI and/or the US Marshalls Service (USMS). The USMS however, is the only entity that is capable of selling seized assets (i.e. decreasing the US Government’s total Bitcoin holdings).

This is interesting, because independent journalist @L0laL33tz recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOAI) request, enquiring as to total number of Bitcoin the USMS actually holds (see below).

The response she received showed they held 28,988 Bitcoin ($3.5B), which equates to 86% less than the ~200,000 Bitcoin quoted by various other sources (CoinGecko, Bitbo etc.).

She also pocketed $10,000 for her research, thanks to a bet by David Bailey who promised to reward the first person to officially confirm the total # of BTC held by the USMS.

2. What’s So Smart about the Genius Act?

President Trump signed the first major crypto bill into law on Friday, ushering in regulatory clarity for stablecoins (virtual tokens on the blockchain that are pegged 1:1 and thus “stable” in value).

The regulation faced backlash amongst Bitcoiners for various reasons, including:

1. Stablecoins are only stable relative to the currency they’re denominated in (i.e. if the dollar loses value over time, so too does the purchasing power of said stablecoin).

2. Mainstream news outlets depicts them as safe (see below), when in fact there were numerous crypto stablecoin de-pegs in recent years, including Terra USD, USDC and Dai which caused significant fallout to the entire ecosystem.

   

   Source: CBS News

3. Stablecoins very closely resemble Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC’s) given only certain “pre approved” institutions are able to issue stablecoins. These entities also have the ability to track and ultimately freeze the stablecoins they’ve issued, making the entire Genius Bill highly antithetical to Bitcoin’s core ethos of decentralized, private money.

3. “Internetless” Messaging by Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey’s new Bitchat allows user to communicate without any traditional infrastructure (cell towers, internet etc.).

The messaging system is based on Bluetooth and is being hailed as yet another form of network that can be used to enable Bitcoin to function in the event of a global power outage.

Our very own @Hector breaks it down below 👇

Research Report of the Week

✍️ Who Wrote It?

Bitwise (asset manager who hold $5B worth of Bitcoin in their Bitwise Bitcoin ETF).

🚨 What Is It About?

Regulatory clarity within crypto has inhibited institutional adoption.

This week’s “crypto week” regulatory results will improve the current lack of trust within the broader crypto market.

Given most banks/large institutions already have exposure to “crypto”, we’re now past the point of no return as this trend is highly unlikely to ever reverse.

💪 Why Does it Matter?

Banks and institutional investors are already allocating toward the sector (see below). If further regulatory clarity is provided, this would unlock significant amounts of institutional capital, providing a strong underlying bid to Bitcoin’s price.

That’s it for this week’s issue of the Rhino Roundup. Join us next week for another edition of all the latest developments in Bitcoin.

To the future of money,

The Rhino Bitcoin Team