Trump’s Bitcoin reserve is underwater—and unaudited

President Trump officially announced the plan for a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on March 6. Since then, the digital asset stockpile’s returns are now in the red, and no public accounting is in sight.

According to Arkham data, the U.S. government currently holds $28.7 billion in crypto assets. This is down from over $42 billion in early October, and down from $30 billion since Trump signed an executive order.

U.S. government cumulative balance of crypto holdings | Source: Arkham

Most of the value of this reserve comes from 326,500 Bitcoin (BTC) , valued at around $28 million, according to Arkham. What is more, much of the fund’s underperformance came from altcoins, some of which were down 98% in that period.

Still, with no real public accounting of the reserves, the value is just an estimate.

CoinGecko and BitcoinTreasuries.net agree with Arkam’s estimate. BitBo, however, puts the reserves at 198,000 BTC, which is around a $10 billion difference.

No accounting in sight

The executive order that established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve planned for a stockpile of other digital assets, largely seized through civil and criminal forfeiture.

At the time, markets saw this as a move toward legitimizing crypto assets and potential accumulation. However, the U.S. government has not yet invested directly in Bitcoin or any other crypto asset. Instead, the strategic reserve and stockpile mostly meant that the U.S. would not sell the assets it already owns.

Why it matters

As most of America speculates whether crypto will generate any substantial value, Trump and his sons are doing just fine. The first family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets in the first half of 2025 alone, according to Reuters.

Therefore, it makes sense that Eric Trump sees the ongoing crypto slump as no big deal.

Investors should “buy dips” and “embrace volatility,” he told Bloomberg News. But while everyday retail investors can only sit back, watch Bitcoin tumble, and hope for a rebound, the Trump family is playing a different game: they’re literally minting tokens, selling them, and pocketing cash along the way.

Through their co-founded platform, World Liberty Financial, the family sees paper losses on their holdings, but they still rake in a slice of every token sale.

In September, the Trump family scored up to $5 billion in paper wealth after their flagship crypto venture launched trading of the WLFI digital token. The move, similar to an initial public offering, lets the public buy and sell the tokens on the open market, something early private buyers couldn’t do.

The family—including President Trump, who is listed as “Co-Founder Emeritus”—holds nearly a quarter of all WLFI tokens, making this likely their biggest financial win since the inauguration.