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Are there any honest benefits to a Federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve? (midwest.social)

submitted 1 week ago by DemBoSain@midwest.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

66 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I can't think of any. The current oil reserve is supposed to be used in the case of another oil embargo. But its actual use is to lower gas prices when the administration in power needs a political win.

I actually think the purpose of a Bitcoin reserve is to temporarily increase the price so tech-bros (re: Elon) can sell at a massive profit. Then buy back at a much lower price. It's just a way to indirectly transfer federal dollars into administration pockets.

I can't find any reason for the government to buy crypto and hold it in reserve.

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[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It is the same reason why the USA still holds gold and silver even through they aren't pegged to the dollar, it is an asset class which could be useful in the future.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You can make that argument in 5000 years. As of today, it's still equivalent to MtG cards.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So what you're saying is we need a strategic MtG card reserve.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago

I heard there are about 70 Black Lotuses missing. Some people think that’s what the drones over New Jersey are looking for.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 7 points 1 week ago

A lot of countries keep a reserve of Euros, which is a fiat currency not tied to a single country and only came into being about 25 years ago.

Currency is like Tinkerbell, it only lives through belief in it. Right now, enough people believe in Bitcoin being a currency and that belief doesn't seem to be going away as long as the Internet still exists.

[–] Tartas1995@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The issue is that relative to gold or silver, Bitcoin is very volatile. A crashing bitcoin could endanger the reserve, forcing the government to double down, making the volatile nature a bigger issue.

Yes gold is somewhat volatile but compared to Bitcoin, it is super stable. And ofc gold and silver are real resources that you can do for their physical properties.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 3 points 1 week ago

Price support can be a reason to create a reserve, but it isn't the only reason. Most countries don't plan their good and silver purchases based on trying to meet a value represented in currency.