Bitget CEO Gracy Chen Says US Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve Purchases Unlikely for 2 Years

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expects Bitcoin (BTC) to remain broadly locked in its current trading range through the end of 2026, telling a podcast interview that interest rates and the wider macro outlook, rather than crypto-native flows, will drive the next move. Her caution follows a rally that has also lifted shares of Bitcoin miners and corporate treasury holders. Chen said whether the largest cryptocurrency finishes the year above or below $70,000 is a difficult call, and that a renewed push toward higher rates could put pressure on prices. If that scenario materializes, she argued, Bitcoin should trade lower “at least theoretically,” because the asset has become increasingly integrated with traditional finance and sensitive to broader macroeconomic conditions. She described a $10,000-to-$20,000 band on either side of present levels as her “more responsible” year-end forecast, a view that implicitly rules out a challenge to a new all-time high before December. Chen was equally cautious about Washington. She said active purchases of Bitcoin for the U.S. strategic reserve are unlikely to begin before President Donald Trump leaves office, and probably not within the next two years. In her view, retaining coins already forfeited to the federal government is a much smaller decision than spending public money or changing federal accounting to buy BTC; the latter would require debate among lawmakers and political parties even under a broadly crypto-friendly administration. The government’s stockpile, she noted, has been built primarily through law enforcement seizures and asset forfeitures rather than open-market purchases.

Chen’s skepticism is consistent with the rules written into the executive order itself. The March 6, 2025 order that created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile directed the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop budget-neutral acquisition strategies, but it appropriated no money and set no purchase schedule. It also instructed federal agencies to review their holdings and report eligible assets to the Treasury. Any plan requiring fresh federal spending would need congressional authorization, while alternatives such as revaluing U.S. gold certificates — recorded at a statutory $42.22 per ounce, far below market value — face separate legal and political obstacles. Under the order, Bitcoin transferred into the reserve “shall not be sold,” subject only to narrow exceptions for court orders, victim restitution, law enforcement operations and certain forfeiture requirements. The design therefore removes a source of potential government supply without creating the recurring demand that an active buying program would bring. Congressional proposals such as Senator Cynthia Lummis’s BITCOIN Act — which proposed purchasing 1 million BTC over five years — and the American Reserve Modernization Act would put the arrangement on statutory footing, but neither has turned the reserve into a standing buyer. Public estimates place the federal position near 198,000 BTC, roughly 1% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply, although the government has not published a complete audit of finally forfeited coins; at a price near $78,000, the stake was worth about $15.4 billion. Public wallet trackers cannot determine the exact size of the reserve, and some services count coins in government-linked addresses even when ownership or forfeiture status remains unresolved. In July, U.S.-linked wallets transferred nearly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime, including roughly 3,940 BTC and 30,000 ETH, though the custody move did not confirm a sale. A June review of the reserve reported Bessent valued the federal position at between $15 billion and $20 billion at the time. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a similar message in August 2025, saying the reserve would be built from confiscated assets rather than direct purchases and that the government would stop selling its holdings. The order also ended an era of periodic U.S. Marshals Service auctions, which had disposed of roughly 195,000 BTC in previous years.

Taken together, Chen’s comments and the executive order draw the same line: the U.S. reserve is a holding vehicle, not a buying vehicle. Our reading of the primary document is straightforward — it prohibits sales, studies budget-neutral acquisition, and funds nothing. That makes the reserve a bear market supply overhang removed, not a bull-market demand engine, and it keeps reserve-driven buying in the realm of speculation until Congress acts or the administration finds a lawful funding route. An executive order can be amended or revoked by a future president, so the policy’s durability depends on whether lawmakers eventually codify the reserve. For investors, the reserve’s near-term relevance is limited to federal supply management. Bitcoin has moved 5.8% over the past 24 hours, but the Bitcoin market’s structural picture is unchanged.