US Bitcoin strategic reserve divides opinion at World Economic Forum

Bitcoin, memecoins and the future of the cryptocurrency industry sparked intense debate at the 2024 edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as Donald Trump marked his return to the Oval Office.

During the sole cryptocurrency-themed session at this year’s forum in Davos, industry leaders painted an optimistic outlook for the sector in the US despite the memecoin-driven frenzy centered around the launch of the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.

The World Economic Forum doesn’t talk about Bitcoin – so I made sure that we did in 2025.

I took the chance to ask if the US will adopt a Bitcoin strategic reserve during the ‘Crypto at a Crossroads’ session inside this year’s WEF conference.

Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong remains… pic.twitter.com/KtxoZD20tg

— Gareth Jenkinson (@gazza_jenks) January 21, 2025

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded to a question from Cointelegraph during the session, affirming that the explosive performance of the TRUMP memecoin would not impede efforts to establish a Bitcoin (BTC) strategic reserve, an idea endorsed by Trump in 2024.

“I don’t think it undermined anything with the strategic Bitcoin reserve. That effort is still alive and well. Cynthia Lummis in the Senate in the US is really pushing that idea,” Armstrong said.

The idea of establishing a Bitcoin reserve was touted by the likes of Lummis, Trump and MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor during the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Armstrong elaborated on the proposal for delegates at the WEF session.

“There is a proposal for the US government to start to hold Bitcoin. Like many countries, the US government holds reserves in various assets like gold, oil or rare minerals like palladium,” he said, adding:

“Many governments hold gold but I think they should to hold Bitcoin because it is essentially the new gold standard. I think a very core principle is that you should hold assets which maintain value over time.”

Related: Trump family memecoins may trigger increased SEC scrutiny on crypto

Central bankers critical of Bitcoin reserve

Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the South African Reserve Bank, was the only non-crypto panelist.

Kganyago said it was unlikely that South Africa would follow suit if the US were to begin stockpiling Bitcoin and questioned the merits of such a decision. 

He pointed to South Africa’s focus on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and blockchain utility over Bitcoin’s use as a store of value.

“There is a history to gold. There was once a gold standard. Currencies were pegged to gold. But if we now use Bitcoin, what about platinum, what about coal? Why don’t we hold strategic beef reserves, mutton reserves, or apple reserves? Why Bitcoin,” Kganyago said.

Armstrong responded by highlighting the core principles championed by Bitcoin proponents, authors and advocates in recent years. 

“Maybe it’s a new idea but I think it’s clear at this point that Bitcoin is a better form of money than gold. It is provably scarce, just like gold, but it’s more portable and divisible. I would say it has higher utility and it was the best-performing asset of the last 10 years,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong emphasized Bitcoin’s advantages over traditional reserve assets and suggested central banks could acquire more BTC than gold over time:

“It might start with being 1% of their reserves, but I think over time it will come to be equal to or greater than gold reserves.”

Related: Trump’s first week in office: Will crypto regulation take a back seat?

US crypto lobby had significant influence

A significant portion of the session was spent unpacking the outcome of the US election and the impact of political donations and lobbying from the cryptocurrency sector.

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said that the Democratic Party failed to have meaningful discourse and a clear stance on the future of the cryptocurrency industry.

“I was there when President Trump gave the speech at the Bitcoin conference. It was clear if he won the election, things were going to change in the industry. And if you were on the side of the Democrats trying to support them, I was astonished at their reluctance to understand what was actually going on,” Scaramucci said.

“If somebody does write a history of this era, it’ll be the era where Elizabeth Warren and Gary Gensler got together for some unknown reason and literally helped the Democrats lose the presidency, the House and the Senate,” he added.

Stellar Foundation director Denelle Dixon added that the cryptocurrency industry had conceded that regulatory action in the US meant that they needed to look overseas to continue doing business.

“Part of the challenge to that is that the dollar is something that everybody wants and it’s in such high demand. There wasn’t an ability to ignore what was happening in the United States, even though none of us liked the regulatory environment.”

Armstrong added that “the Trump effect” could not be denied and said the new presidency has given the cryptocurrency industry newfound optimism and room to breathe and grow in the US.

Magazine: Trump’s Bitcoin policy lashed in China, deepfake scammers busted: Asia Express