The White House reported a $17 billion loss from early bitcoin sales. In response, Trump established a strategic bitcoin reserve with a “never sell” policy to strengthen U.S. BTC holdings.

US Dumped 195,000 Bitcoin Too Soon—White House Says It Cost Taxpayers $17 Billion

The White House has stated that past U.S. government bitcoin sales have cost taxpayers over $17 billion. This revelation was outlined in a White House fact sheet released on March 6, detailing the formation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, established through an executive order by President Donald Trump.

“Premature sales of bitcoin have already cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion,” the document states.

White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks also highlighted this issue in a post on social media platform X on March 6. He wrote:

Over the past decade, the federal government sold approximately 195,000 bitcoin for proceeds of $366 million. If the government had held the bitcoin, it would be worth over $17 billion today. That’s how much it has cost American taxpayers not to have a long-term strategy.

Sacks explained that he obtained this information from Grok, X’s AI chatbot, after querying the U.S. government’s history of bitcoin sales. His inquiry sought specific details on the timing of the sales, the amounts involved, the revenue generated at the time, and how much the holdings would be worth today had they not been liquidated.

The discussion surrounding the U.S. government’s bitcoin strategy has reignited debate over long-term cryptocurrency policies. With the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, future administrations may approach digital asset management differently.

Speaking at the first-ever White House crypto summit on March 7, Trump criticized past bitcoin sales, particularly those made during the Biden administration. He opined: “Unfortunately, in recent years, the U.S. government has foolishly sold tens of thousands of bitcoin that were worth billions and billions of dollars had they not sold them. But they did sell them, mostly during the Biden administration—not a good thing to have done.” The president stressed:

From this day on, America will follow the rule that every bitcoiner knows very well: never sell your bitcoin.