{"id":24361,"date":"2025-05-29T11:41:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/marathon-chief-urges-u-s-to-mine-bitcoin-to-build-a-strategic-reserve\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T11:41:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:41:01","slug":"marathon-chief-urges-u-s-to-mine-bitcoin-to-build-a-strategic-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/marathon-chief-urges-u-s-to-mine-bitcoin-to-build-a-strategic-reserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon chief urges U.S. to mine bitcoin to build a strategic reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-keypoints article_keypoints\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To build a strategic bitcoin reserve, the U.S. could levy a royalty on mining.<\/li>\n<li>An alternative is to mine bitcoin using surplus hydropower.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could fulfil its pledge to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) by starting to mine the cryptocurrency, said MARA CEO Fred Thiel, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/markets\/2025\/05\/27\/maras-fred-thiel-says-us-should-start-mining-bitcoin-to-fill-strategic-reserve\"> CoinDesk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThe SBR announcement will be an empty sound if you don\u2019t start filling it,\u201d the executive said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He said the approach aligns with a \u201cbudget-neutral\u201d strategy for acquiring coins in<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/trump-establishes-u-s-strategic-bitcoin-reserve\"> Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a>. Surplus hydropower could be used for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>The approved order currently provides for holding bitcoins seized by the Treasury in criminal and civil cases. Sales of cryptocurrency from the reserve are prohibited.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>VanEck\u2019s proposal<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Matthew Sigel, head of digital-asset research at VanEck, as a way to build the SBR<a href=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/vaneck-proposes-mining-royalty-to-fill-us-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-in-a-budget-neutral-way\/\"> proposed<\/a> imposing a mining royalty. In that case, proceeds would come from bitcoin-mining businesses rather than taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>Under the concept, energy producers that flare or vent methane could deploy mobile data-centre units, receive rewards for mined blocks and be exempt from income tax.<\/p>\n<p>Mining firms, in turn, would direct a portion of coins to the Treasury\u2019s SBR wallet.<\/p>\n<p>In his view, this model reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and diversifies bitcoin reserves without federal spending.<\/p>\n<p>Sigel urged members of Congress to fold the provisions into energy, defence and appropriations bills. He cited federal oil-and-gas royalties as precedent for tying revenue to extractive activity.<\/p>\n<p>Another VanEck proposal envisaged allocating $100 million from the <span data-descr=\"a special fund controlled by the U.S. Treasury Secretary, created in 1934 to stabilize the dollar through operations in gold, currency, and securities\" class=\"old_tooltip\">Exchange Stabilization Fund<\/span> to build the SBR. The expert acknowledged the initiative would face opposition from Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Pakistan and beyond<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On May 28, crypto firm K33, listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market, <a href=\"https:\/\/k33.com\/ir\/article?slug=k33-secures-financing-of-sek-60-million-to-buy-bitcoin-and-launch-its-bitcoin-treasury-strategy\">raised 60 million <span data-descr=\"Swedish kronor\" class=\"old_tooltip\">SEK<\/span><\/a> ($6.2 million) to buy digital gold as a treasury asset. The company plans to use it, among other things, for lending.<\/p>\n<p>Bilal Bin Saqib, the special assistant to Pakistan\u2019s prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, said Islamabad will establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. He added that the decision was inspired by the SBR in the United States.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Bilal Bin Saqib, the special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, announced that the government of Pakistan will establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. He noted that the initiative was inspired by the United\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WuBlockchain\/status\/1927837197589168430?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Progress on SBR<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On March 11, Senator Cynthia Lummis <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/cynthia-lummis-unveils-revised-bitcoin-reserve-legislation\">introduced<\/a> in the U.S. Senate an updated Bitcoin Act that would allow the government to hold more than 1 million BTC within a crypto reserve.<\/p>\n<p>The document envisages the U.S. buying 200,000 BTC annually for five years by reallocating existing funds of the <span data-descr=\"U.S. Federal Reserve System\" class=\"old_tooltip\">\u0424\u0420\u0421<\/span> and the Treasury. The updated version of the law permits accumulating coins by legitimate means \u2014 through confiscations, donations or transfers from federal agencies.<\/p>\n<p>On May 28, Donald Trump\u2019s special adviser on AI and cryptocurrencies, David Sacks, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/us-considers-bitcoin-acquisition-without-budget-impact\">said<\/a> the government would consider purchasing additional bitcoin if it can find the funds without new taxes or more federal debt. He noted such a scenario is possible by reallocating already appropriated resources.<\/p>\n<p>In January, MARA\u2019s CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/mara-advocates-for-bitcoin-reserve-across-the-united-states\">said<\/a> the mining company had begun lobbying for the SBR across all 50 states and the U.S. federal government.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the initiative has been approved in<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/texas-endorses-creation-of-bitcoin-reserve\"> Texas<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/new-hampshire-pioneers-bitcoin-reserve-legislation-in-the-us\">New Hampshire<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/arizona-becomes-second-u-s-state-to-establish-crypto-reserve-law\">Arizona<\/a>. In <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/oklahoma-senate-rejects-bitcoin-reserve-proposal\">Oklahoma<\/a>, Montana, Pennsylvania, North and South Dakota, as well as Wyoming, attempts to create a strategic bitcoin reserve have also <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/montana-house-rejects-bitcoin-reserve-bill-2\">failed<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To build a strategic bitcoin reserve, the U.S. could levy a royalty on mining. An alternative is to mine bitcoin using surplus hydropower. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could fulfil its pledge to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) by starting to mine the cryptocurrency, said MARA CEO Fred Thiel, according to CoinDesk. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"","news_style_id":"","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1538,1641,1137,1185,1150,1138,1774,36,783],"class_list":["post-24361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin-purchase","tag-bitcoin-reserves","tag-cryptocurrency-mining","tag-marathon-digital-holdings","tag-news-plus","tag-opinions","tag-pakistan","tag-regulation","tag-vaneck"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"75","promo_type":"","layout_type":"","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}