Cathie Wood: Trump May Buy Bitcoin For US Reserve Ahead Of Midterms
Cathie Wood, ARK Invest’s founder and CEO, stated she expects the Trump administration may transfer past merely holding seized bitcoin and start buying BTC to construct a US strategic reserve, a shift she argued may turn into a catalytic sign for markets and different governments.
Speaking on ARK’s “Bitcoin Brainstorm” podcast in an episode dated Jan. 08, Wood framed authorities shopping for as a possible inflection level at a time when she believes institutional participation stays “simply starting” and bitcoin’s provide dynamics are getting more durable to disregard.
“We have seen little or no institutional buy-in, it’s simply starting,” Wood stated. “And I feel if we get the US, for instance, not including simply confiscated bitcoin to a strategic reserve however, you recognize, on the market shopping for, and we don’t know if that’s going to be the case. But in the event that they had been to take action, I’ve a sense that may set off what we’re all ready for, which is, you recognize, the shortage worth to reassert itself once more now that we’re close to 20 million bitcoin excellent and we solely have yet another million to go.”
In the dialogue, Wood prompt the administration’s posture thus far has successfully been restricted to confiscated holdings. She contrasted that with what she described as an earlier ambition for scale, noting “the unique intent was to personal one million bitcoin,” earlier than including her view {that a} pivot towards purchases is believable.
Midterms Could Drive US Bitcoin Reserve Buys
Wood linked that risk to political incentives heading into the 2026 US midterm elections, describing Trump as motivated to maintain momentum and keep away from being politically sidelined. “President Trump doesn’t need to be a lame duck,” she stated. “So I’ve a sense that he’s going to work together with his crypto and AI czar to do just a few issues… [and] it appears as if there’s been reticence about truly shopping for bitcoin for the strategic reserve. So far, thus far it’s confiscated… So I truly suppose they may begin shopping for.”
Wood additionally pointed to what she sees as aligned constituencies across the president, arguing he has “all types of causes” to lean into crypto whereas emphasizing that the political calculus issues due to the midterm timeline.
When the dialog turned to how such purchases could possibly be executed, Wood echoed the concept any reserve technique would need to be budget-neutral. She didn’t define a mechanism, however handled the constraint as a key gating issue for feasibility.
Wood argued that express US shopping for wouldn’t simply be a home market occasion. Iit may drive different capitals to revisit reserve coverage. “Something that’s actually necessary… we thought that nations would undertake it a lot sooner than they’ve,” she stated. “I feel if the US truly says, ‘Okay, now we’re going to purchase,’ that’s going to spur lots of different governments to suppose this factor via. Do they need to be hostage to the greenback…? And you recognize, no, they don’t. So put some bitcoin in your reserves.”
If that dynamic accelerates, Wood warned emerging-market currencies may face renewed stress, describing a situation the place reserve diversification towards bitcoin reshapes volatility throughout weaker fiat regimes, a downstream impact, she prompt, of Washington making the primary overt transfer from holding seized BTC to competing within the open market.
At press time, BTC traded at $90,578.
