US has ‘countless’ ways to bolster Bitcoin reserve: Bo Hines

The US is exploring many ways to increase its Bitcoin reserve without taxpayer dollars, including through tariff revenue and revaluing the government’s gold certificates, according to the executive director of the Trump administration’s crypto council.

“We're looking at many creative ways, whether it be from tariffs, there’s literally countless ways in which you can do this,” Bo Hines of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets said in a recent interview with Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano.

Hines said the Treasury could revalue its gold certificates, valued at $43 per ounce, to the current market price of $3,200 per ounce, creating a paper surplus to fund Bitcoin purchases without selling gold.

“Everything is on the table, and like we've said, we want as much as we can get, so we’re going to make sure that no stone is unturned,” Hines said in the interview, which aired on April 14.

🇺🇸 LATEST: Executive Director of Digital Assets Bo Hines said the US government may buy Bitcoin using tariff revenue. pic.twitter.com/Gfc2HiEJoL

The Bitcoin Reserve will initially comprise assets forfeited in government criminal cases but allow for the government to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin.

During the interview, Hines said the White House is also developing a digital asset framework outlining how the US plans to support crypto innovation and promote US dollar stablecoins worldwide.

“It'll provide clarity on many aspects of this space, whether it be from tokenization to staking, all sorts of things,” Hines said, adding that the Trump administration has been moving rapidly to make America the “crypto capital of the world.”

Related: Bitcoin takes back seat as Trump, Bukele focus on trade and immigration

“We're moving at tech speed, it’s like we’re a startup in this building,” Hines said. “We'll continue moving this along quite quickly.”

The report Hines referred to is expected to be published in late July or August.

Hines wasn’t asked to address some of Trump’s potential conflicts of interest in the crypto space, including the controversial Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin and the Trump family’s business venture with World Liberty Financial — which have been raised by the opposition party.

I watched this interview in full.

Pomp didn't ask about:

1. How much Bitcoin the US government owns, and the internal audit the Trump administration told us that should have already been completed

2. Donald Trump's growing list of conflicts of interests in the cryptocurrency… https://t.co/bVnXBkCmK1

Last month, House Representative Gerald E. Connolly referred to the TRUMP token as a “money grab” that resulted in Trump-linked entities cashing in on over $100 million worth of trading fees.

Representative Maxine Waters also criticized Trump’s memecoin on Jan. 20, referring to a rug pull while claiming the launch represented the “worst of crypto.”

The White House’s AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, said the TRUMP memecoin was nothing more than a collectible.

Hines also wasn’t asked whether the US completed an internal audit of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings — a task that was supposed to be completed within 30 days of US President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions