Former Trump Crypto Adviser Warns: Simply Supporting Bitcoin Isn't Sufficient for US
A Bitcoin industry leader believes that within the next decade or two, the US government will establish the necessary framework for Bitcoin to thrive, regardless of current political conditions.
David Bailey, who previously held the position of crypto advisor within the Trump administration, contends that the United States government should be taking more substantial action to facilitate Bitcoin's broader adoption across the nation.
"At the end of the day, liking Bitcoin is not enough," Bailey said during the Bitcoin Investor Week Conference in New York, which was published to YouTube on Tuesday.
"The Trump administration was a very important first step, but you know there is so much further for us to go and not just in talk but in actual delivery," said Bailey, who now serves as CEO and Chairman of KindlyMD, a Bitcoin treasury company.
Bailey points to stalled Strategic Bitcoin Reserve plan
During his presidential campaign trail appearances, Trump consistently expressed his backing for Bitcoin (BTC) along with the cryptocurrency sector as a whole.
Despite signing an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025, reports indicate that the federal government has not yet started acquiring Bitcoin beyond the holdings confiscated from criminal enterprises and illegal operations.
"We're sitting here a year later, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was signed into an executive order," Bailey said.
"Last time I checked, we don't even know how much Bitcoin we have exactly," Bailey added. Data from Arkham Research shows it currently holds 378,372 Bitcoin, worth approximately $22.48 billion at the time of publication.
Merely two months following Trump's signing of the executive order, David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, indicated that the accumulation process wouldn't be quite so simple, clarifying that the United States could potentially purchase additional Bitcoin if the government managed to finance such acquisitions in a "budget-neutral" manner, avoiding both taxation increases and contributions to the expanding national debt.
As months passed throughout the year, industry stakeholders grew increasingly split regarding the likelihood of this initiative. Some maintained their positive outlook. Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital's head of firmwide research, stated in September that a "strong chance" remained that it would materialize before 2025 concluded.
Bailey stated that although Trump has been the first political figure to embrace "our worldview," merely holding a favorable opinion isn't sufficient to propel Bitcoin's valuation to $1 million.
"Just because you like Bitcoin doesn't mean that you've invested the political capital necessary for things to happen," Bailey said.
"Unless you're willing to bear the political capital necessary to mobilize the different gears necessary to move the ball forward, then at the end of the day, you can like Bitcoin, you cannot like Bitcoin, you're going to get the same outcome achieved."
Bitcoin will succeed either way, says Bailey
Nevertheless, Bailey emphasized that Bitcoin will ultimately achieve success even in the absence of government intervention or support from US authorities. "It's not like we need the government to cater for us for Bitcoin to be successful," Bailey said.
"Whether it's four years from now, or 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, we will get to the point where we actually have a government that is conducive to the rules we need for Bitcoin to be successful," he said.
"I'm bullish on what we can accomplish in this administration. If we really want the progress to continue, we need more people to own Bitcoin every year," Bailey said.
"We need more voters to own Bitcoin every year. And then it is just inevitable," he added.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $68,220, sitting approximately 45% beneath its all-time high of $126,000 that was reached in October, based on data from CoinMarketCap.
Beyond the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve initiative, members of the Bitcoin community are closely monitoring the potential approval of the US CLARITY Act, legislation designed to deliver greater regulatory clarity to the industry. In a Truth Social post published on Tuesday, Trump stated that "the U.S. needs to get Market Structure done, ASAP."