Industry executives are reportedly seeking seats on United States President-elect Donald Trump’s highly-anticipated crypto advisory council, which will be responsible for crafting regulatory policy and is expected to help establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve.

According to a Reuters report , Coinbase, Ripple Labs and venture capital firm a16z are among the companies looking to join the council, which may be nestled under the White House’s National Economic Council or operate as a standalone entity.

Speaking at the North American Blockchain Summit on Nov. 21, Bitcoin advocate and co-founder of the Satoshi Action Fund Dennis Porter explained the importance of establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve in the United States:

"A great way for us to protect ourselves from outside influence — undue influence from our foreign adversaries — is to be in the market buying and selling Bitcoin, acting as a shock absorber for all the incredible Bitcoin miners that we have here in this country."

Porter continued by comparing the establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the US government’s acquisition of Alaska in 1867 — a point previously made by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor .

“We bought these things for pennies on the dollar,” Porter said, adding that the US has a similar option today in adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset before other countries beat it to the punch.

Related: US Bitcoin reserve during Trump presidency could pump BTC to $1M

The race is on for a Bitcoin strategic reserve

Senator Cynthia Lummis — who introduced the Bitcoin strategic reserve bill to the Senate earlier in 2024 — recently argued that the Treasury Department should convert some of its gold to Bitcoin to seed the strategic reserve with assets.

Pro-Bitcoin investor and asset manager Anthony Pompliano said that the Bitcoin race between sovereign powers is underway in a Nov. 16 appearance on Yahoo Finance, and urged the US government to “get as much Bitcoin onto the balance sheet as possible.”

Still, not all industry participants are optimistic about a Bitcoin strategic reserve being established under the incoming Trump administration.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that a Bitcoin strategic reserve is unlikely under a Trump administration , while also predicting a $500,000 Bitcoin price tag if the strategic reserve is founded in the near term.

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