Bitcoin is making history in 2025, for itself and for the United States.
The incoming 47th president, Donald Trump, pledged to create a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. The US will actively begin stockpiling bitcoin as a matter of national security and to combat the seemingly insurmountable debt that resulted from decades of fiat debasement.
For the first 14 years of bitcoin’s existence, growth was gradual. With the onset of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) beginning in bitcoin’s 15th year, and now the world’s leading economic power championing bitcoin as a legitimate reserve asset, it’s not a stretch to think that growth is transitioning from gradual to sudden.
What does this mean for the world?
1. Accelerated Global Bitcoin Adoption
The first and most obvious takeaway…prepare for accelerated bitcoin adoption.
After a certain point, there is only so much that individuals like you and I can do to educate and spread the word about bitcoin. Unfortunately, the reality is that most people don’t act without certain levels of authority acting beforehand.
Now that the US pledges to adopt bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, anticipate other countries to follow suit. Russia, China, and many others have already been stockpiling bitcoin silently over the years, but these actions will start to become more public among citizens around the world. National strategic Bitcoin reserves are proving to be the next, and arguably final, catalyst to drive worldwide Bitcoin accumulation. For the most part, this information will still fall on dead ears. But for millions, the message will ring loud and clear.
Bitcoin adoption is about to experience an uptick to levels that we’ll likely never fall from again. Bitcoin on exchanges is rapidly declining, and the day where none is left for public sale could come sooner than anticipated, thus fulfilling the movement towards a hyperbitcoinized world – where people have to work for their bitcoin.
2. A Strengthened US Dollar…For Now
The end state of hyperbitcoinization is a world that’s free from the shackles of fiat currency. In the long term, bitcoin is still on that mission. However, in the short term, what we could witness is a return to the dollar’s roots when central banks backed it with gold reserves. Only this time, that backing comes in the form of bitcoin.
A US strategic Bitcoin reserve will establish this trend for nations all around the world. All countries face the same debt-accumulation problem that the US does, so many of these countries may try to align themselves with the US’s actions.
While it could provide temporary relief from unpredictable inflation, simply backing the dollar with bitcoin shouldn’t dissuade bitcoiners from the true mission: to do away with paper currencies entirely. A united world on a Bitcoin standard avoids the inherent friction that hundreds of different currencies inherently create, and thus always provides more efficient, prosperous outcomes than divided money ever could.
As stated by Jeff Booth and many others in the Bitcoin community, however, bitcoin as a store of value comes first, then medium of exchange and unit of account follow suit:
“Should it happen in a coordinated fashion, the technological innovation will move beyond Bitcoin’s utility as a store of value (its first 10x) rapidly. In addition to being accepted as a better store of value, it will quickly become a better medium of exchange (easier to use) as a swarm of ‘cyber-hornets’ (H/T — Michael Saylor) rush in to drive the technology forward.”
A strategic bitcoin reserve represents bitcoin’s acceptance as a store of value. Up until this point, irrespective of undeniably positive price action, the idea of bitcoin as a legitimate store of value has been hotly contested at all levels of the financial landscape. The US is deciding to end that debate. While in the short term it may feel that bitcoin is straying from its vision as the de facto global electronic cash system, understand that bitcoin is available to anyone, including your enemies. The reality of a pro-bitcoin government attempting to back its currency with bitcoin is the manifestation of another Trojan horse story: a gift accepted and brought within, only for it to completely overtake the confines it was captured under.
3. Heightened Government Spending
A strategic Bitcoin reserve is a double-edged sword. Sure, the free national marketing and boost to adoption is a pro for bitcoin in the long term, but in the short term it could spell disaster for the spending problem that governments create.
A stronger US dollar unfortunately means an extended timeline for governments to spend at will and exacerbation of the already out-of-control debt spiral governments are incurring around the world. A bitcoin-backed dollar could reign in highly volatile inflationary expansion, as previously stated, but it also means that the inflation virus remains hard-coded into fiat money’s design. “Higher for longer” isn’t only a phrase that describes the Fed’s approach to interest rates in the past two years – one could interpret it as a bad omen for what’s to come with prices in the near future.
This risk is all the more reason to start your personal bitcoin adoption plan, if you haven’t already. To avoid contributing to the problem, don’t leave Bitcoin IOUs on exchanges or stick your capital in a Bitcoin spot ETF. Buy and withdraw from an exchange – and most beneficially from a no-KYC exchange – to enjoy the true self sovereignty that bitcoin offers.
If you measure your wealth in terms of bitcoin, no matter how government policy impacts pricing for everyday goods and services, from your perspective, you’ll see prices falling all around you over time.
4. Redefined Global Economic Power
As mentioned, bitcoin redefines our measurement of wealth. While owning a lot of properties, a profitable business, and maybe a few sports teams may have secured generational wealth in previous generations, with the reality of bitcoin now in play, individuals, business owners, politicians, and countries alike all have to ask themselves: “How much bitcoin do I own?”
In a world transitioning to a superior form of money, anyone wishing to uphold their financial status now has to take into account how much of the new money they own themselves.
The US has long been an economic powerhouse, enjoying the strongest fiat currency relative to all other nations. But if China, Russia, or another superpower were to overtake the US in terms of Bitcoin holdings, how much longer can US dominance last?
Establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve signals a transformative shift in how we measure economic power. The US acknowledges bitcoin’s rising importance, and is trying to stay ahead of the potential for hyperbitcoinization to completely overhaul how the world economically organizes itself.
5. Regulatory Overhaul
A strategic Bitcoin reserve will likely spark entirely new regulatory frameworks for finance at large. At the corporate level, companies like MicroStrategy are already defining this new framework by organizing company growth around its “bitcoin per share” metric. Profitability is no longer the sole focus for organizations: how those profits impact a company’s Bitcoin positioning ultimately determines the company’s long-term economic viability.
A similar movement could take place at the national level thanks to the US strategic Bitcoin reserve. Economic organization now has a new target to revolve around: bitcoin. If a country is producing more for the world than it’s consuming, that will only remain true if the nation is simultaneously in a strong Bitcoin position. Without considering bitcoin as a central driver for economic growth, nations may gradually, then suddenly find themselves falling out of the ranks among other nations who choose to act more wisely in light of bitcoin’s influence on the world.
To ensure that nations’ fiscal departments are getting their priorities straight, they’ll need to establish new regulatory frameworks that account for the nation’s Bitcoin strategy. That means clear definitions for how central banks can interact with bitcoin, how national governments can take custody of bitcoin, etc.
6. Legacy Financial Disruption
Traditional systems that we use to move money are in for a rude awakening with the onset of strategic Bitcoin reserves. Governments may choose to transact with one another directly using bitcoin, rather than funneling fiat between complex, centralized banking networks.
Remittance services like Western Union or SWIFT may need to adapt their service offerings to remain competitive as more and more people wake up to bitcoin’s value for international payments. And even with updated services to accommodate Bitcoin-related transactions, there’s no guarantee that these individuals, corporations, and other entities will even continue relying on them. Instead, they may opt to take advantage of bitcoin’s native protocol to handle transfers and settlement, while skipping out on the fees incurred by legacy third parties.
The same precedent for disruption is set for banks, payment processors, and all other financial entities. A strategic Bitcoin reserve should be putting them all on high alert; if they are paying attention.
7. Profound Geopolitical Ramifications
As highlighted in much more depth by Jason Lowery in his Softwar thesis, bitcoin is transitioning kinetic warfare into the digital landscape. As the trend towards hyperbitcoinization continues, global warmongers won’t have the same luxury of printing infinite amounts of currency to fund whatever level of warfare they wish to engage in. Bitcoin enforces economic reality into warfare; its economic viability must be considered beyond mere emotional bloodthirst.
This dynamic highlights the profound shift in incentives bitcoin provides to the world. Not just militarily, but interpersonally as well. No matter how warped our primal human nature may drive us to commit crimes, deceive, and manipulate, applying bitcoin’s transparency to the world’s economic foundation brings out better behavior from us all, simply out of energetic efficiency. It’s much more fruitful for us to cooperate rather than try to behave selfishly – a drive that divided fiat currencies inherently foster.
How this phenomenon plays out geopolitically should excite the optimists of this world. With bitcoin being established at the national level, there are technological means to disincentivize mass-scale warfare, as better outcomes can be achieved through cooperation rather than sheer brute force projection.
Bitcoin certainly does not make warfare disappear – and surely will be included in the spoils of war alongside gold, land, and other property that militaries seize from one another.
But for the first time in history, bitcoin sets a precedent that, when integrated thoroughly enough around the world, gives leaders a new, more peaceful option for power assertion, before deferring to the last resort option.
Bitcoin may become a pinpoint of alliance creation between nations who never before considered partnership. Partnerships typically emerge out of mutually beneficial agreements that monetarily empower both parties. And now, once economically-disadvantaged countries now have a chance to “earn a seat at the table,” so to speak, with more powerful nations.
El Salvador is one of the first examples of this taking place. What was once the world’s murder capital is now in the process of detaching itself from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and becoming a self-sovereign nation that offers its own competitive advantages in the geopolitical landscape.
A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Isn’t All Rainbows And Sunshine
A US strategic Bitcoin reserve signals a bright future for bitcoin in the long term. It’s fulfilling its path to complete integration throughout the world, moving up the ranks from individuals, to corporations, and now governments. However, the fight between fiat and bitcoin is reaching its climax. The final stretch on the road to hyperbitcoinization will be littered with financial strains and political turmoil that won’t be easy for the average person to navigate. Governments will use strategic Bitcoin reserves to bolster their rampant spending, while kicking the can of unwinding further down the road.
It’s critical that you prepare yourself for the ride by taking self custody of bitcoin so your stack isn’t caught up in the fall out of the vast swath of over-leveraged financial institutions that our legacy financial systems uphold.
Ultimately, the introduction of national strategic Bitcoin reserves means that more eyes, minds, and conversations will all be focused on bitcoin. Bitcoin is influencing every aspect of the world: politically, economically, and philosophically. With the next US president pledging to enact this change within the world’s financial superpower, the rest of the world will have to follow suit in order to remain competitive.
Be sure to see what’s taking place beyond the skyrocketing bitcoin price, the unwavering government spending, and general societal unrest – a long-awaited renaissance is under way, reshaping the ways that humans interact with one another in the wake of a rapidly changing world. Software enjoys real-time updates. Hardware is much more difficult to upgrade. Since money serves as the vessel for all energetic exchange, it’s time that our monetary system digitizes to accommodate for dramatic change. Our old systems simply can’t adapt fast enough.
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