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- Standard Chartered suggests the U.S. fund its Bitcoin reserve by selling part of its $760 billion gold reserves without burdening taxpayers.
- Kendrick sees growing institutional Bitcoin adoption, with financial giants like BlackRock and Standard Chartered embracing digital assets in traditional finance.
Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, has presented a bold idea: the US could sell some of its gold reserves to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve without burdening taxpayers. Considered a “budget-neutral” solution, the US government owns around $760 billion in gold.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Standard Chartered suggests the U.S. sell gold to fund its Strategic $BTC Reserve without extra taxpayer costs, calling it 'budget-neutral.'
— Whale Insider (@WhaleInsider) March 8, 2025
Gold vs. Bitcoin: A Shift in National Reserves?
Although Kendrick claims there’s a more modern approach to holding value—Bitcoin—the US gold reserves are very remarkable. Selling some of the gold, he contends, would enable the government to purchase vast quantities of Bitcoin without depending on taxpayers.
The concept surfaced when President Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and mandated that government purchases of Bitcoin may be made free from compromising the budget of the country.
Not everyone will agree. While gold has served as a valuable store for millennia, Bitcoin is still relatively new and prone to volatility. Kendrick, however, thinks that worldwide patterns show BlackRock and Standard Chartered itself, as well as other big institutions, embracing Bitcoin.
Standard Chartered and Crypto Expansion
Not only concerning Bitcoin, Standard Chartered has shown considerable curiosity in digital assets. They recently said they would be working with Animoca Brands and HKT to seek a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to produce a stablecoin based on the Hong Kong dollar. Using blockchain technology, this move seeks to increase the efficiency of local and international payments.
Not content with that, Standard Chartered has also set up a facility in Luxembourg to offer institutional European Union investors crypto custody solutions.
They are seizing this chance to widen their service coverage given the growing demand for the security of digital assets. Former Societe Generale head of innovation Laurent Marochini has been assigned to oversee the new regional project.
Kendrick’s Bold Prediction: Bitcoin at $500K?
Standard Chartered produced several really fascinating forecasts, one of which is the possibility of a notable increase in the price of Bitcoin in the following years. As we previously reported, Kendrick foresaw Bitcoin rising to $200,000 by 2025 and perhaps surpassing $500,000 before Trump leaves office.
He credits the growing acceptance of Bitcoin in the conventional financial industry and the possibility for higher institutional investment for this forecast.
In Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, Standard Chartered-backed digital asset platform Zodia Markets has just been licensed to run as a virtual asset broker. The company sees a great chance to increase its footprint in the Middle East and Africa as the crypto ecosystem there is fast developing.
Towards a Future of Bitcoin as a National Reserve?
Although it sounds divisive right now, the concept of including Bitcoin into a national reserve is becoming more and more important as more nations examine digital assets as part of their financial plans. Should the US truly sell its gold to acquire Bitcoin, the outcome might provide a model for other nations to follow using comparable policies.
But is this a change that one can genuinely carry out free from any challenges? Still important considerations are regulation, public acceptance, and Bitcoin’s volatility.
