Trump’s ex-crypto advisor: US government must go beyond 'liking Bitcoin'

David Bailey, a former crypto advisor to the Trump administration, argues that the US government could be doing more to support Bitcoin adoption. 

“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

Trump repeatedly voiced his support for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto industry during his presidential campaign appearances. 

While he signed an executive order for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025, it is understood that the US government has yet to begin accumulating Bitcoin outside of the funds seized through illicit activity. 

“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.

Just two months after Trump signed the executive order, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said the process of accumulating wouldn’t be so straightforward, explaining that the US could buy more Bitcoin if the government could fund the purchase in a “budget-neutral” way, without a tax or adding to the growing national debt. 

Industry participants became more divided on the possibility as the year progressed. Some stayed optimistic. Galaxy Digital’s head of firmwide research, Alex Thorn, said in September that there was a “strong chance” it would still happen before the end of 2025.

Bailey said that while Trump has been the first politician to champion “our worldview,” an opinion alone isn’t enough to drive Bitcoin’s price 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

However, even without action from the US government, Bailey said Bitcoin will eventually succeed. “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.

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“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.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $68,220, approximately 45% below its October all-time high of $126,000, according to CoinMarketCap.

Outside the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Bitcoiners are eyeing the potential passage of the US CLARITY Act, which aims to provide the industry with more regulatory clarity. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that “the U.S. needs to get Market Structure done, ASAP.”

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