Trump Says Bitcoin Reserve “Certainly Discussed” Ahead of Sept. 15 Senate Vote

President Trump convened leaders from the crypto, prediction-market and traditional-finance industries at the White House on Aug. 19, bringing together SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Mike Selig in the same room as executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Robinhood, Gemini, Nasdaq and ICE. Presidential adviser Patrick Witt also attended. The sit-down functioned as a prelude to the CFTC's inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting on Aug. 20, giving the industry a direct line to the regulators who will shape the next phase of U.S. digital-asset policy. The meeting was held as the SEC and CFTC move to reshape digital-asset oversight. In his remarks, Trump urged Congress to pass what he called a fair version of the CLARITY Act, the market-structure bill that has stalled in the Senate. A vote is scheduled for Sept. 15. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the legislation is a bipartisan compromise that carries numerous Democratic amendments, and he set a target of winning more than 60 votes in the upper chamber. Trump also listed previous administration actions, including the removal of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, an executive order prohibiting a U.S. central bank digital currency, the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a U.S. digital-asset stockpile, and passage of the GENIUS stablecoin law. Asked whether the administration plans to accumulate substantial amounts of bitcoin, Trump said the subject had certainly been discussed and argued that bitcoin has taken considerable pressure off the dollar, but he offered no scale or timing and indicated the decision would be left to regulators such as Atkins. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said after the meeting that 67 million Americans, or roughly one in four, hold crypto today. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev separately said U.S. investors are currently among the last to receive the benefits of tokenization. The summit showcased an agency-led approach to market structure, yet whether that approach becomes permanent law may hinge on the Sept. 15 vote.

At the same White House session, Trump said CFTC Chairman Mike Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based exchange known for perpetual futures, to the U.S. in a fully compliant and legal form. Trump said he understood Selig was actively pushing the effort, a statement that lifted HYPE, the venue's native altcoin, by roughly 20% as of 04:00 UTC on Aug. 20. Hyperliquid lets users connect a crypto wallet directly to the platform to trade perpetual contracts, derivatives with no expiration date that have become one of the largest volume segments in digital-asset markets. Such contracts let traders maintain leveraged exposure without rolling positions and account for a significant share of global crypto trading. The venue belongs to the broader category of decentralized exchange infrastructure rather than the centralized exchange model. The broader summit included executives from Chainlink Labs, Coinbase, Gemini and Ripple, and Trump repeated his call for the CLARITY Act. Hyperliquid's possible U.S. entry would build on a precedent set by the CFTC in May 2026, when the agency issued an order approving Kalshi's application to list BTCPERP, a perpetual futures contract tied to the spot price of bitcoin. That order was the first time a U.S. regulator approved a perpetual futures product. The CFTC's handling of Hyperliquid appears to follow the same playbook, with derivatives access being shaped through case-by-case approvals rather than a dedicated statute. Trump's remarks were the clearest signal yet that Washington is prepared to welcome a major blockchain-based trading venue into the regulated financial system, even as no timeline or compliance terms for the launch have been disclosed.

The two threads point to a single conclusion: U.S. crypto policy is shifting from broad endorsements to binding market-structure decisions. The CLARITY Act's Sept. 15 vote will test whether the administration's agenda can be codified into law, while CFTC precedent, including the May 2026 BTCPERP approval, shows how regulators are already moving on derivatives. For altcoin venues such as Hyperliquid, the path forward is being set as much by agency discretion as by any statute. Trump's own accounting at the summit, from the GENIUS stablecoin law to the strategic bitcoin reserve, now serves as the baseline against which the next steps are likely to be measured.