So far in 2025, the Trump administration has not held back when it comes to crypto. We’ve seen the establishment of a crypto reserve, the introduction of the GENIUS Act, and the overhauling of Biden-era crypto rules. Now, Sen. Cynthia Lummis has reintroduced the BITCOIN Act, a proposal that would see the U.S. government selling gold to acquire 1 million BTC worth $80 billion.
Given all the excitement among crypto advocates, it’s important to know more about both the act itself and the woman behind it. While on the one hand the act could represent a massive step forward for both cryptocurrencies and America, there are also reasons to be concerned by such a large gamble. So, what is the BITCOIN Act, and who is Cynthia Lummis?
Who is Cynthia Lummis?
Cynthia Lummis is the Republican senator for Wyoming. She became the first woman senator to represent the state when she was sworn into office in 2021.
Her rural Wyoming background is part of her appeal to Republican voters. She was born on a cattle ranch in Laramie county, and champions rural American and Wyoming causes. In the House of Representatives, she pushed through the first Interior and Environment Appropriations (EPA) bill in seven years. According to her website, Lummis “knows how to protect Wyoming values because she lives those values in her work and home life.”
Lummis strives to be a no-nonsense conservative. She regularly fights off environmental legislations for Wyoming’s mineral and energy resources.
But what’s interesting about Lummis is that she has been all-in on crypto for over three years. Under Biden, her advocacy for a crypto reserve gained less mainstream attention. Since Trump’s inauguration, her ideas have gained a wide mainstream appeal.
In addition to her patriotic image, she has an eye-catching social media presence, posting “dark MAGA” images of herself and MAGA colleagues with glowing red eyes. The intentions of “dark MAGA” are often debated, with some enjoying it as an innocent meme, and others declaring it a far-right dog whistle.
Today, she’s still based on a cattle ranch in Laramie county, and has graduated three times from Wyoming university in animal science, biology, and law.
What is the BITCOIN Act?
At the same time Lummis was co-sponsoring the GENIUS Act, she re-introduced the BITCOIN Act (Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide).
The most eye-watering part of the deal is that the $80 billion acquisition wouldn’t involve any taxpayer money. According to the announcement, “The bill ensures no new taxpayer burden, utilizing Federal Reserve remittances, gold certificate revaluations, and other budget-neutral strategies to fund Bitcoin acquisitions. The U.S. Treasury will maintain all bitcoin holdings in secure cold storage, ensuring maximum security and long-term economic stability.”
Essentially, the act proposes a 20-year holding period in which funds in the Federal Reserve and the Treasury department are diversified to fund the purchase. For Lummis and crypto advocates, this represents a massive step towards debt relief. Given Bitcoin’s historical appreciation, an $80 billion reserve stands to grow significantly.
At the same time, however, Bitcoin’s volatility, and the fact that it has no underlying value, is concerning. Ultimately, it’s possible for bitcoin’s value to sky-rocket, but it could also drop to zero. It’s this aspect of the cryptocurrency that led Jamie Dimon to tell CNBC that Bitcoin is a “pet rock,” nothing more than a “worthless hyped-up fraud.”
The BITCOIN act would also look to increase government transparency related to reserve assets with a quarterly proof of reserve system. In this respect, it has seen support from advocates for greater reserve transparency, perhaps off the back of recent conversations surrounding the gold reserve at Fort Knox
But if the acquisition costs taxpayers nothing, and ostensibly has so much to gain, what’s the catch?
Bitcoin isn’t Quantum-Proof
The main concern associated with establishing such a reserve would be its security. It would require the U.S. to establish a “digital Fort Knox” to protect its newly acquired assets.
But even if this is possible, we don’t know how these threats will develop in the future. In particular, the government should be concerned about the potential threat that quantum computing would pose to this reserve. Bitcoin, after all, would incredibly susceptible to hacking by a quantum computer, which could solve its cryptographic algorithms with ease.
While more recently established cryptocurrencies are attempting to forge resistance to these threats, Bitcoin is especially at risk. Quantum-proofing Bitcoin would involve fundamental changes, which would require every user’s wallet to be retrofitted and miners to update their hardware and software to support new consensus rules.
While quantum computing has always loomed as a potential threat against Bitcoin, it has never fully realized. But, if another country is faster to revolutionize quantum computing, the U.S. may find its eye-watering reserve in significant danger.
Bitcoin is Historically Volatile
This is not to mention the volatility of Bitcoin. While regulations and a government reserve might bring some stability, the value of the reserve will be reliant on a notoriously volatile market, one at the mercy of price fluctuations of several percentage points each day.
While gold, for example, is also volatile, it is also a tangible asset which will never completely lose its value. It has always been used as a store of value and has real world applications, as in jewellery and tech industries, which makes it a reliable reserve for any country in the world.
Just this week, for example, a crypto whale shorted a massive BTC holding worth $516 million at 40x leverage, making $9.4 million profit in 8 days. So, in addition to the cyberthreats posed by Bitcoin, its value is also dependent on a notoriously volatile and speculative market.
For Lummis, however, the U.S. shouldn’t be concerned with Bitcoin’s short-term volatility. The government should instead focus on its long-term metrics, which show massive year-on-year appreciations in value. A U.S. federal reserve, in contrast, might actually create a stable market for Bitcoin, more akin to fiat currencies like the dollar.
“Crypto Queen” or Crypto-Opportunist?
Lummis is shaking this up following what many Americans believe to have been a stagnant era for America under Biden. But it hasn’t been a straightforward journey, and she continues to divide opinion.
Despite her appeal as a born-and-bread Wyoming rancher, Lummis is no stranger to criticism. She was once booed while giving a graduation speech at University of Wyoming. A poll by the same university found her state approval ratings to be around 30% in November 2024. It’s a huge drop considering she previously ranked as the third most approved Republican senator in the country.
Her long-standing advocacy for government adoption of Bitcoin and clearer regulations for cryptocurrencies have made her the “crypto queen” under Trump. And there is excitement among her admirers that the Bitcoin might relieve the national debt and place America at the forefront of an emerging global economy.
After purchasing Bitcoin in 2013, Lummis was the first owner of Bitcoin to be elected as a U.S. senator. But some speculate, as a result, that she stands to gain financially from a Bitcoin reserve, potentially representing a conflict of interest. In 2022, as is standard practice for public figures, Lummis placed her Bitcoin into a blind trust, controlled by an independent trustee, stating that she cannot know the extent to which she still holds it.
What’s Next?
Revolutionary to some, dangerous to others, Cynthia Lummis certainly divides opinion. But for better or worse, she should be taken seriously as an economic disruptor.
“Digital assets are the future,” says Lummis. “And if the United States wants to remain a global leader in financial innovation, congress must act swiftly.”
While Bitcoin is having a moment in the sun under Trump, its fast incorporation into government should be approached with some caution. While crypto regulations are certainly on the way, it would be best for crypto advocates to ensure that these regulations are effective in the long-term, avoiding further stigma for crypto in mainstream finance.
Author: Sean Maguire
See Also:
What is the GENIUS Act? Banks and Fintechs Rush Towards Stablecoins | Disruption Banking
