Bo Hines believes the U.S. government can use gains from gold certificates to purchase Bitcoin.
“If it’s budget neutral and doesn’t cost the taxpayer a dime, we’ll see whatever creative ideas we can come up with,” said Hines.
The Trump administration will likely boost its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, as the White House’s crypto council leader has proposed budget-neutral strategies for acquiring Bitcoin.
Speaking on the Crypto in America podcast, Bo Hines, who leads the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said policymakers have suggested various ideas for increasing the government’s Bitcoin holdings.
One of the best strategies involves leveraging the appreciation of the government’s gold certificates, which remain undervalued compared to bullion.
“I’ll actually point you to Senator [Cynthia] Lummis’ Bitcoin Act of 2025, in which she believes that we can identify the real true value of some of these gold certificates,” Hines said.
“If we actually realize the gains on [these holdings], that would be a budget-neutral way to acquire more Bitcoin,” he said.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis notes that Fed banks value gold certificates at a statutory price of $42.22 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, the spot gold price currently exceeds $3,000 per ounce.
Senator Cynthia Lummis’ BITCOIN Act of 2025 includes “Federal Reserve System gold certificates” as a funding source for Bitcoin purchases.
According to the bill, the Federal Reserve banks must return all outstanding gold certificates to the Treasury Secretary. The Secretary will then issue revised certificates that reflect the current fair market price of the gold they represent.
Hines stated that he welcomes any suggestions for expanding the reserve, as long as they do not burden taxpayers. This principle forms the core of the budget-neutral Bitcoin acquisition strategies outlined in President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order.
“With all the inter-agency working group actors that will convene in these meetings, I mean, we’re going to hear some tremendous ideas about how we can do it. I just don’t want to box us in yet to what that actually looks like because I want to be able to hear from everybody.”
The US government currently holds 213,297 BTC per Coingecko, which it obtained through seizures in criminal and civil proceedings. As a result, America possesses the largest known Bitcoin reserves of any country.
During the interview, Hines reaffirmed Bitcoin’s unique status and explained that the White House crypto council is taking a distinct approach to managing the strategic reserve and digital asset stockpile.
“David [Sacks] likes to say it has the immaculate conception, meaning there’s no issuer. It has intrinsic stored value, and it’s traditionally accepted store of value as well. We wanted to make that distinction [between stockpile and reserve].”
After President Trump decided to establish a digital asset stockpile—including various large-cap altcoins—the White House promptly defended Bitcoin’s special status.
Commerce Secretary Lutnick stressed that Bitcoin will receive different treatment from the rest of the altcoins on the list.
The Trump administration is not only prioritizing Bitcoin acquisition but also successfully pushing cryptocurrency legislation with bipartisan support.
Ro Khanna, a Democratic lawmaker from California, expects Congress to advance legislation on stablecoins and crypto market structure this year.
