United States Plans to Convert $70 Billion Tariff Surplus into Bitcoin Strategic Reserves, Emphasizing Budget Neutrality; Finance and Crypto Communities Discuss New Defense Line for Dollar Hegemony
(Background: Trump rates “loyalty” of American companies! Non-compliance with policies may result in loss of federal contracts)
(Context: Bessent: U.S. Treasury “will not purchase Bitcoin”; after backlash, reversed to continue seeking to increase BTC holdings)
Last weekend (15), a proposal to convert a $70 billion tariff surplus into Bitcoin (BTC) erupted across Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the crypto community. Policy advocate and author of Bitcoin Era and Bountiful Harvest, Adam Livingston, believes that this previously idle fund in the federal account could serve as the best spark for establishing a U.S. “budget-neutral” Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). This debate involves the competition between the dollar, gold, and emerging assets, raising global attention on whether the U.S. will leap to become a “Bitcoin superpower.”
How the Strategic Reserve Concept Was Born
In March of this year, the U.S. president issued an executive order establishing the SBR and set the principle of “no increased spending, no expanded deficit” for budget neutrality. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent initially stated that there would be no direct purchases of Bitcoin, but later in an interview, he reversed his stance, admitting that he is seeking purchase options that comply with the principles. Thus, Livingston’s proposal emerged as the clearest and most controversial path currently.
Tariff Surplus: The Best Ammunition for Budget Neutrality
In the first seven months of this year, U.S. Customs collected $135.7 billion in tariffs, of which $70 billion has yet to be assigned a purpose. Livingston reminds policymakers:
“We are sitting on a $70 billion tariff surplus, and the fiscal year is not yet over.”
He advocates for converting this amount into Bitcoin in one go, which not only fully complies with budget neutrality but also introduces a hedge asset that performs better than fiat currencies in an inflationary environment. The proposal includes strict terms prohibiting sales, staking, and lending, aiming to build the SBR into a “digital vault” rather than a speculative fund for trading.
The Treasury does not pin all its funding hopes on the tariff surplus, also assessing three backup routes. First, re-evaluating gold reserves: the official account still values gold at $42.22 per ounce, a significant gap from the market price of about $3,335; adjusting the book price alone could release substantial capital. Second, liquidating part of the strategic petroleum reserves to transfer cash into the SBR. Finally, regularly converting seized crypto assets into Bitcoin through staking. These proposals share the feature of utilizing existing assets without seeking new funds from taxpayers, aligning with the spirit of the executive order.
From Cold Storage to Insurance: Government-Level Security Framework
The most concerning factor for the public is how the government will ensure that massive amounts of Bitcoin are not stolen by hackers. According to industry analysis, the SBR will adopt an “institutional-grade multi-signature cold wallet” solution: private keys will be split and stored in multiple isolated air-gapped facilities, requiring multiple signatures for any transfer, minimizing single-point failures. Custody providers like Coinbase Custody, BitGo Trust, and Gemini Custody offer hardware security modules, regular SOC audits, and high insurance, ensuring that the overall protection level of the SBR surpasses that of market ETFs. Additionally, with multi-party computation (MPC) technology, even if one private key is compromised, hackers cannot gain complete control.
Overall, the Bitcoin strategic reserve plan centered on tariff surplus symbolizes a new chapter at the intersection of U.S. fiscal and technology policies. If the proposal ultimately materializes, the United States could not only continue to dominate the traditional financial order but also seize the high ground of “digital gold.” Moving forward, how Washington balances congressional review, Treasury implementation, and market fluctuations will be key to observing whether dollar hegemony can successfully transition into the blockchain era.
