U.S. Crypto Task Force to Focus on Delivering National Bitcoin Reserve: Bernstein

From coindesk By Will Canny| Edited by Sheldon Reback

What to know:

The U.S.  crypto task force  will focus on starting up a national  bitcoin (BTC) reserve , a move that is likely to spur similar efforts worldwide, broker Bernstein said in a research report Monday.

"A creation of a U.S. bitcoin reserve could lead to a global race amongst sovereigns to buy bitcoin as one of the reserve assets," analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.

The formation of a strategic reserve poses a number of structural questions, the report said.

Will the U.S. Federal Reserve or the Treasury buy bitcoin? If the Fed, that would require legislative approval, the report noted.

How would the Fed fund cryptocurrency purchases? Bernstein said it could issue debt or sell some of its gold reserves.

The U.S. government could add the $20 billion in bitcoin it has seized from criminal enterprises to any national reserve, the report added.

The broker noted that the Trump administration also announced the  creation of a sovereign wealth fund  (SWF).

Such a fund "would consider key U.S. crypto companies/market leaders, as strategic assets to own," Bernstein said. "Investors should position themselves for the next leg of the bull market across bitcoin and bitcoin linked equities."