Earlier today, the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, hosted the “Bitcoin For America” summit.
The event occurred in the wake of President Trump’s signing an executive order (EO) to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and the White House’s hosting its first-ever Crypto Summit.
One might have expected jingoistic overtones from an event with such a title. However, many of the speakers acknowledged that Bitcoin is something that will benefit the whole world, and that, partially because of this, the U.S. should lead the way in adoption.
David Zell, Director of BPI, set the tone for the event in his opening remarks.
“Our goal for today is to continue this process, to help people understand how Bitcoin benefits America — and the world writ large,” he declared.
Zell was followed by Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a long-time Bitcoin advocate, who made the case that it’s only natural for America to set the pace when it comes to Bitcoin adoption.
“This really is freedom money,” said Senator Lummis. “And America should lead when it comes to freedom money.”
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin And American Digital Supremacy
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor agreed with the Senator, making the case for why the U.S. should lead in this arena.
“I’m here today to show you how the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve represents a strategy for United States digital supremacy in the 21st century,” he began.
He went on to argue in favor of bitcoin as digital property, asserting that the United States should acquire as much of it as possible so that it can “rent and finance” on top of that property.
He also posited that trillions of dollars in commerce will flow over the Bitcoin network, which is another reason why the U.S. should prioritize acquiring its share of the network.
Moreover, he asserted that Bitcoin embodies American values and that owning it is the next best thing to living in the U.S.
“Everybody who is living in Asia, in Africa would move to the U.S. if they could,” said Saylor.
“They’d move their money to the U.S. if they could. They want the currency of the U.S. They want the security of the U.S. They want the values of the U.S., but they can’t have it,” he added.
“So, the second best thing they can have is to move their money into the Bitcoin network, which has all of the values, protection, and security of the U.S.”
Vivek Ramaswamy: Bitcoin’s Long-Term Return Is The New High-Risk Hurdle Rate
Ohio gubernatorial candidate and American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy followed Saylor, putting forward the motion that the rate of return on holding bitcoin for a decade or more is now the new high-risk hurdle rate.
He set the stage for this claim by making the case that we’re moving back into an “era of scarce capital.” He shared that this will be the inverse of the past 15 years, during which the Fed printed money en masse, in a manner similar to a cocaine dealer doling out cocaine to hungry users, as he put it.
He explained that institutions are going to once again have to consider the question “What is my opportunity cost of capital?” and, in doing so, they’ll have to define a hurdle rate for both low- and high-risk investments.
Ramaswamy argued that the hurdle rate for low-risk investments is the 10-year U.S. Treasury, while the hurdle rate for a high-risk investment will be the rate of return on bitcoin over a 10-to-15-year period.
He then closed out his talk by pointing out how the American ethos and the Bitcoin ethos overlap, and that, like the American flag, Bitcoin is a symbol of hope.
“I think Bitcoin and what it represents, more than as a financial asset, also helps to fill that hunger for a symbol, a reminder of what American greatness was all about,” said Ramaswamy. “And I think it makes it, in the national context, an even more fitting asset to fill our national Strategic Reserve.”
Matthew Pines: The World Is Paying Attention To Bitcoin After SBR EO
Matthew Pines, Executive Director of BPI, pointed out that bitcoin is beginning to take center stage in the eyes of world leaders for two reasons.
The first, he claimed, is because U.S. debt markets have become increasingly fragile, prompting global leaders to start looking to invest in a global reserve asset aside from U.S. Treasuries.
The second reason is that President Trump’s SBR EO clearly stated that the United States sees bitcoin as “digital gold,” and that it will only be a matter of time before other leaders view it as the same.
“Last Thursday’s executive order landed on the desk of every major president, central bank [chair] and finance minister in the world,” said Pines.
“There are now discussions happening about how to interpret that. What does that mean for their own country’s relationship to bitcoin? Governments don’t move too fast, but when they do, they move in size, they move in scale and they can deploy trillions of dollars in capital that can have geopolitical effects,” he added.
“And I think we’re at this inflection point where the geopolitical aspects of bitcoin start to become extremely important, and can shape the next several years of Bitcoin’s future. The Bitcoin race is now on, and the ball is in our court to maintain our advantage.”
Congressman Nick Begich Reintroduces The Bitcoin Act
After Pines concluded his talk, he introduced Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) to the stage, where the Congressman made a major announcement.
“Today, I will be announcing the Bitcoin Act of 2025 in the United States House,” said Rep. Begich.
The bill, which is an updated version of the bill Sen. Lummis proposed last year, proposes that the U.S. acquire 1 million bitcoin (at no expense to taxpayers) and protects U.S. citizens’ right to self-custody to their bitcoin.
“[The bill] explicitly protects the rights of individuals to own, hold and transact with bitcoin freely,” said Rep. Begich. “It recognizes self-custody as a fundamental right.”
Congressman Ro Khanna: Democrats Should Support Bitcoin
After a brief talk from Zack Shapiro, Head of Policy at BPI, on why U.S. states should hold bitcoin in their reserves, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) made the case for why Democrats should embrace Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin should be bipartisan,” said Rep. Khanna, the only Democratic politician to speak at the event.
“Now, people are going to be able to get bitcoin. That is transformational for so many people around the world, and that is why the Democratic Party should be embracing this as something that can create financial empowerment for people not just in the United States, but around the world,” he added.
Jack Mallers: Bitcoin Is A Return To American Values
After a handful of talks and panels including the likes of Casa CEO Nick Neuman, Newmarket Capital CEO Andrew Hohns and Lightspark CSO Christian Catalini, Strike CEO Jack Mallers took the stage as the final speaker of the summit.
In his talk, entitled “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: The American Monetary Revolution”, Mallers made the case that the establishment of the SBR was “a return to American values — including life, liberty and property.”
“The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order and the Bitcoin Act proposed by Senator Lummis is the most significant economic shift and announcement and the only positive economic announcement that’s come out of this nation’s capitol in the last 100 years,” said Mallers.
He went on to say that American economic policy has been working against the principles the country was founded on and cited Executive Order 6102 (gold confiscation under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933), the Nixon Shock (President Nixon’s depegging the U.S. dollar from gold in 1971) and the 2008 bank bailouts as evidence.
However, he ended on a high note.
“[This is a] pivotal moment in American history and a turning point in economic policy for this country,” said Mallers. “The story of humanity is [people] engineering a better world — that’s America, that’s Bitcoin.”
