In a late-night post on Truth Social dated July 21, Donald Trump, the former President, shared a video featuring Peter Van Valkenburgh, Coin Center’s research director, during his 2018 Senate testimony. Trump hailed it as the “ultimate Bitcoin explanation,” encouraging his followers to view the entire video.
The footage, captured during a Banking Committee session focused on the emerging cryptocurrency landscape, highlights Van Valkenburgh’s main argument that Bitcoin serves as “the world’s first public digital payment infrastructure.” He explains to lawmakers that Bitcoin allows value transfer globally using just a computer and internet access. Van Valkenburgh also describes the protocol as a “computer-science breakthrough,” comparing its potential impact on human liberty to that of the Internet’s inception.
Trump just shared that incredible speech on bitcoin & blockchain innovation from Coin Center’s Van Valkenburgh 
pic.twitter.com/MpKdJNkwTe
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) July 21, 2025
pic.twitter.com/MpKdJNkwTeIs a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Report Imminent?
Trump’s public support comes just before a critical deadline. On January 23, he signed Executive Order 14178, mandating a high-profile Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to produce comprehensive legislative and regulatory proposals for cryptocurrencies within 180 days. This report is expected on July 22.
Speculation on X suggests that tomorrow’s document might, for the first time, reveal an official account of federal Bitcoin assets, consolidate them into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve initiated by a March 6 directive, and propose “budget-neutral” strategies to grow the reserve without additional taxpayer funding.
Independent analyses indicate significant figures. Chainalysis estimates that US agency-controlled wallets hold approximately 200,000 BTC, valued at around $20.4 billion at current market rates, making the US the largest national Bitcoin holder.
However, questions remain about whether the US government retains all these assets. In December 2024, shortly before Trump’s inauguration, a court permitted the Justice Department to sell 69,370 BTC, confiscated from the Silk Road hacker “Individual X,” then valued at about $6.5 billion. The coins were transferred to Coinbase Prime under the Biden administration.
Contrastingly, Trump’s March directive prohibits selling reserve Bitcoin and instructs the Treasury and Commerce Departments to develop cost-neutral acquisition methods.
Trump’s post also concludes “Crypto Week.” On Friday, he signed the GENIUS Act, the first federal law regulating dollar-backed stablecoins, while the House progressed the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would shift significant enforcement to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and prevent a Federal Reserve digital currency.
It remains uncertain if the Working Group’s report will affirm Van Valkenburgh’s claim that “Bitcoin is the world’s first globally accessible public money.” However, with Trump now personally endorsing this narrative—and the policy framework due imminently—Washington’s next steps on cryptocurrency will soon transition from conjecture to official policy.
At the time of reporting, BTC was priced at $118,216.
