Adam Livingston, creator of “The Bitcoin Age and The Nice Harvest,” has proposed that the USA authorities direct its substantial customs tariff surplus into constructing a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Creator’s proposal for bitcoin reserve
Livingston suggests funneling a portion of the rising surplus from US commerce tariffs into safe, multi-signature chilly storage bitcoin holdings, which might not be traded, staked, or rehypothecated.
He emphasizes the untapped potential of present surplus revenues:
“As of July, we’ve collected $135.7 billion in customs duties — double final 12 months’s tempo. Let me repeat that we’re sitting on a $70 billion surplus from tariffs, and we haven’t even completed the fiscal 12 months. That Surplus is unallocated. It’s not pre-spent. It’s not tied to Medicare, entitlements, or debt service. It’s simply floating, ready, in search of a productive use case.”
Coverage context and govt order
The proposal aligns with the present govt order on the US strategic bitcoin reserve, which mandates that additional authorities bitcoin acquisitions should use budget-neutral methods.
Livingston’s strategy would meet this requirement by using surplus funds reasonably than new spending.
Treasury secretary’s blended indicators
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent initially acknowledged that the federal government wouldn’t be buying new bitcoin for its reserve.
Bessent later clarified, nonetheless, that the federal government remains to be “exploring budget-neutral pathways” to extend its bitcoin holdings.
Different options embody revaluing the Treasury’s gold, reallocating present reserve property, or promoting oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to amass bitcoin.