“Oops, We Own Bitcoin”
Posted October 31, 2024
Chris Campbell
In 1933, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102.
This order required Americans to surrender their gold coins, bullion, and certificates to the Federal Reserve in exchange for paper dollars at a fixed rate of $20.67 per ounce.
With one executive order, he turned millions of law-abiding citizens into criminals overnight.
Their crime? Owning gold. The punishment? Up to 10 years in prison.
(Though, of course, in practice, few were ever prosecuted.)
Fast forward 91 years…
A strange inversion of this is happening.
The same government that once confiscated citizens' precious metals is now eyeing Bitcoin - the digital gold - like a teenager discovering compound interest.
And if you think that's ironic, buckle up.
This story gets better.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Remember 2021?
Elizabeth Warren was building her anti-crypto army. And Gary Gensler was playing whack-a-mole with every crypto project that moved.
But here's what they didn't tell you: While they were publicly trashing crypto, smart money was quietly accumulating.
BlackRock didn't just wake up one day and decide to file for a Bitcoin ETF…
Larry Fink was building a “blockchain wing” in his HQ at the same time he was trashing Bitcoin on live TV -- all the way back in 2018.
And now? We've got a former president making Bitcoin transactions at conferences.
We’ve got his opponent pushing for crypto innovation.
And Congress? They're grilling Gensler like a New York strip.
Meanwhile…
The U.S. government is sitting on three piles of Bitcoin:
- Seized assets (≈205,000 BTC)
- Regulatory settlements
- Future auction proceeds
This comes out to about 207,000 BTC -- making Uncle Sam one of the largest holders.
Will they sell? Everyone seems to think so. But not me.
Consider:
- U.S. debt hit $35.89 trillion. That's not a typo.
- BRICS nations are now talking about Bitcoin
- Both parties are realizing crypto votes are real votes
- Institutional FOMO with Microstrategy and (potentially) Microsoft leading the way
And a lot more.
What This Means For Your Money
Look, nobody should bet the farm in these crazy crypto experiments.
But, as we’ve been saying for a while…
Crypto remains one of the biggest asymmetrical bets of the decade.
Why:
- Major financial institutions are building on crypto infrastructure
- Political opposition is crumbling faster than a cookie in hot coffee
- The government that once banned gold is eyeing Bitcoin as a strategic asset
The same folks who told you Bitcoin was dead at $3,000 will tell you it's a bubble at $150,000.
They were wrong then.
They're wrong now.