ChainCatcher News: U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a digital asset reserve, retaining Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins seized in law enforcement actions without making new purchases. The lack of new purchases means that, for the time being, the so-called reserve is merely a strategic reserve and will not inject any buying pressure into the market. Deribit data shows that traders are feeling disappointed and have started to chase short-term put options on BTC, ETH, and SOL.

ChainCatcher news, Derive founder Nick Forster stated in an analyst report on January 25 that the Trump administration's executive order is focused on assessing digital asset reserves rather than concentrating on a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, which has suppressed short-term bullish expectations for Bitcoin. "The market believes that the upside potential for this asset is limited in the short term, possibly due to the lack of a specific BTC reserve announcement."Forster pointed out that on January 24, 83.3% of the Bitcoin options contracts on the Derive platform were "call options sold," indicating expectations that Bitcoin prices will remain stable or decline. He said, "Without practical measures like establishing a national reserve, the market will not buy it."

ChainCatcher news, Riot Platforms Vice President of Research Pierre Rochard pointed out that the biggest obstacle to the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve (SBR) plan does not come from the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, banks, or Elizabeth Warren, but from Ripple/XRP. Ripple is spending millions of dollars on lobbying efforts to try to obstruct the advancement of the U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve (SBR) plan.Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse countered that the company's actions are actually increasing the likelihood of implementing a strategic reserve that includes Bitcoin, aligning with Trump's campaign promise to support American businesses and technology. Pierre questioned whether Garlinghouse himself genuinely holds XRP, implying that he is only selling the tokens. Pierre also pointed out that Ripple had previously targeted the Bitcoin mining industry during the Biden administration using similar tactics, aiming to promote a CBDC based on its platform.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Moneycorp's Head of Trading and Structured Products Eugene Epstein stated in an interview: "We have experienced cyclical bull markets in cryptocurrency before, but I remember this is the first time the hype is really happening at the government level. So far, there has just been a lot of talk, but in terms of acceptance, this is still the furthest cryptocurrency has ever gone."The United States is already the largest sovereign holder of Bitcoin, primarily from judicial seizures. According to data from Bitbo, the country holds over 200,000 Bitcoins, equivalent to nearly $22 billion.Epstein noted that trading in the cryptocurrency market is based on the expectation that the U.S. will make significant purchases in the future. The market has already priced in the large-scale purchases of cryptocurrency by governments at all levels in the U.S., and if those expectations are not met, there could be a pullback: "Unless some kind of state-level program really starts to be implemented, I find it hard to see the market go up; I expect this will be led by the Treasury."

ChainCatcher news, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan recently stated that the U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve plan could push BTC up to $500,000."If this happens, or if we start to see this happening in other countries, then you will see BTC rise significantly, making the performance in 2024 seem quite modest by comparison."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, BTC Inc. CEO and Trump campaign advisor David Bailey revealed that four countries have approved a strategic Bitcoin reserve plan, but did not disclose the specifics of these measures or the names of the countries involved.Bailey hinted that a group of Bitcoin-holding countries may be organized in the future, similar to today's traditional international organizations, such as the G7. Bailey emphasized that the scarcity of Bitcoin and global demand will drive competition among countries for Bitcoin.Although no country has officially announced related measures at this time, the United States and Brazil have begun to advance relevant regulations to lay a legal foundation for strategic Bitcoin reserves.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers dismissed the idea of the government establishing a Bitcoin asset reserve, calling it "too crazy" and merely catering to special interest campaign donors.During his campaign, Trump proposed that the government retain tokens, and his allies wanted to scale up to reduce the national debt, as well as appoint a cryptocurrency supporter as the SEC chairman. Summers also stated that Musk's plan to cut $2 trillion in spending is politically very difficult to achieve.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, at the 2024 North American Blockchain Summit held in Dallas, Texas, the chairman of the nonprofit think tank (Avik Roy) stated on stage: "When Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis talks about how a Bitcoin strategic reserve plan could help us eliminate federal debt, it is an overstatement of what Bitcoin can actually do.If the U.S. were to purchase a 'massive' amount of Bitcoin and appreciate its value, it might help, but it does not address the $35.46 trillion debt issue that has been growing almost exponentially since the 1980s."

ChainCatcher news, friendly U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on X platform stating that the U.S. national debt has reached $35 trillion, and Bitcoin's strategic reserve can stop this out-of-control train.This week, U.S. national debt has surpassed $35 trillion for the first time. According to the Congressional Budget Office, as spending and interest expenses grow beyond tax revenue, the national debt is projected to reach $56 trillion by 2034.