CoinTalk

Traveling With Crypto? How Evil Twin  WiFi Can Empty Your Wallet

After a long international flight, exhaustion sets in quickly. Your phone battery is low, your mobile data isn’t working yet, and the airport offers what looks like a lifesaver: free WiFi. You connect without hesitation, log into an exchange, and move some crypto while waiting for your luggage. Everything seems fine — until hours later, when your funds are gone.

This is not bad luck. This is how an  Evil Twin  WiFi attack works.

Public WiFi has become one of the most underestimated threats to crypto holders, especially for travelers. As digital assets become more valuable, attackers are increasingly targeting moments when users are tired, rushed, or disconnected from their usual security habits.

What Is an  Evil Twin WiFi Network?

An Evil Twin is a fake wireless network designed to look identical to a legitimate one. Hackers clone the name of real WiFi networks found in airports, hotels, cafés, and conference venues. When your device connects, it unknowingly hands control of its internet traffic to the attacker.

From that moment, anything you do online can potentially be monitored, intercepted, or manipulated. The danger does not come from breaking encryption directly, but from quietly positioning the attacker between you and the internet.

Security researchers have confirmed that these attacks are especially common in high-traffic travel locations, where people expect free internet and rarely stop to verify its authenticity.

Why Crypto Users Are Prime Targets While Traveling

Crypto transactions are irreversible. Once funds are transferred, there is no bank to call and no chargeback to request. Attackers know this, which is why crypto users are particularly attractive victims.

When connected to a fake WiFi network, attackers may not instantly steal your funds. Instead, they wait for a mistake. A login page that looks legitimate. A prompt asking you to re-authenticate. A fake security update. In some cases, users are even tricked into entering their seed phrase, believing it is required to “restore” access.

Even without direct access to a wallet’s private keys, attackers can still cause serious damage. Stolen exchange credentials, email access, or two-factor authentication codes can be enough to drain centralized accounts within minutes.

Fake Login Pages: The Real Weapon Behind Evil Twins

The most dangerous part of an Evil Twin attack is not the WiFi itself, but what comes after. Once connected, victims are often redirected to counterfeit login pages that perfectly imitate popular exchanges or wallet services.

These pages are designed to exploit trust and fatigue. When you are jet-lagged, stressed, or in a hurry, subtle warning signs are easy to miss. A slightly altered URL, an unexpected verification request, or a sudden  session expired  message can feel routine — but they are often traps.

Attackers rely on social engineering, not advanced hacking. They succeed when users act without double-checking.

Why Public WiFi Alone Doesn’t Automatically Mean You’re Hacked

Connecting to public WiFi does not instantly compromise your crypto. The real danger appears when sensitive actions are taken while connected. Logging into exchanges, approving wallet connections, signing transactions, or changing security settings significantly increases risk.

This is why experienced traders avoid handling serious crypto operations on unknown networks. Even reputable platforms with strong security measures cannot protect users from voluntarily handing credentials to fake interfaces.

Trusted exchanges such as BYDFi, which emphasizes account protection, risk control systems, and secure infrastructure, still advise users to access accounts only through verified networks and official domains. Platform security is strongest when combined with smart user behavior.

How Travelers Can Reduce Crypto Risk Without Becoming Paranoid

The safest approach is behavioral discipline. Many security incidents happen not because systems fail, but because people make rushed decisions. Avoiding high-value transactions while traveling dramatically lowers exposure.

Some experienced crypto users separate their funds into multiple layers. Long-term holdings stay untouched. A secondary wallet is used for travel, containing only limited funds. A small hot wallet handles daily payments or minor interactions. This structure ensures that even if something goes wrong, losses remain controlled.

Using personal mobile hotspots, disabling automatic WiFi connections, and confirming network names directly with venue staff also reduce the chance of connecting to a malicious access point.

When You Have No Choice but to Use Public WiFi

Sometimes, public WiFi is unavoidable. In these cases, encryption becomes critical. A trusted VPN can help protect data by encrypting traffic before it reaches the network. However, VPNs are not magic shields. They reduce risk, but they do not prevent phishing or fake login pages.

Users should always access exchanges and trading platforms through bookmarked URLs or by manually typing the domain. Clicking ads or search engine results while on public WiFi increases exposure to spoofed websites.

Most importantly, no legitimate service will ever ask for a seed phrase. Not during login, not during verification, and not during support interactions. Any such request is a scam — without exception.

Crypto Conferences and Hotels: A Growing Blind Spot

Security professionals have also raised concerns about crypto conferences and hotels. These locations concentrate high-value targets in a single area, often using shared networks. Attackers know this and adjust their tactics accordingly.

Recent incidents shared on social media show how easily a combination of public WiFi, fake prompts, and small mistakes can lead to drained wallets. Even when an Evil Twin network is not directly involved, the environment itself creates opportunities for deception.

The Takeaway: Awareness Is the Best Defense

Evil Twin attacks succeed not through technical brilliance, but through timing and psychology. They target moments of distraction, urgency, and fatigue — conditions that travelers experience daily.

Why Trade Finance Could Become Blockchain’s Most Powerful Use Case

Blockchain has already proven that it can disrupt finance. From cryptocurrencies to decentralized finance and cross-border payments, the technology has introduced faster settlement, greater transparency and open access to markets that were once reserved for institutions. Yet, despite these advances, blockchain’s most transformative opportunity may still lie ahead.

That opportunity sits quietly at the core of the global economy: trade finance.

Trade finance is the engine that keeps international commerce moving. It enables exporters, importers, manufacturers and distributors to operate across borders by providing credit, liquidity and risk mitigation. The sector is massive, essential and deeply flawed — a rare combination that makes it uniquely suited for blockchain-driven change.

A Trillion-Dollar Industry Still Stuck in the Past

Global trade finance is estimated to be a $9.7 trillion market, supporting the movement of goods and services worldwide. Despite its scale, the industry remains heavily dependent on paper-based processes, manual verification and fragmented systems that have barely evolved over decades.

Letters of credit, invoices, bills of lading and purchase orders still pass through multiple intermediaries, often taking weeks to reconcile. Each transaction involves banks, insurers, shipping companies, customs authorities and auditors, all operating on disconnected systems. Delays, errors and duplicated documentation are not exceptions — they are routine.

This inefficiency creates more than inconvenience. It creates exclusion.

An estimated $2.5 trillion global trade finance gap continues to block small and medium-sized enterprises from accessing the capital they need. SMEs form the backbone of global trade, especially in emerging markets, yet they are often deemed too risky or too costly to serve by traditional banks. When financing is denied, production slows, contracts are lost and entire supply chains weaken.

Why Blockchain Fits Trade Finance Better Than Any Other Sector

Trade finance and blockchain are not just compatible; they are naturally aligned.

At its core, trade finance relies on trust, verification and timing. Blockchain excels in all three. By recording trade documents on an immutable, shared ledger, blockchain removes the need for constant reconciliation between parties. Documents can be verified instantly, ownership can be tracked transparently and fraud becomes significantly harder to execute.

When invoices, shipping documents and receivables move onchain, the entire lifecycle of a trade transaction becomes visible and auditable in real time. This reduces disputes, shortens settlement cycles and lowers operational costs for all participants.

More importantly, blockchain introduces tokenization, which fundamentally changes how trade assets are financed.

Tokenized Receivables and the Flow of Global Liquidity

Tokenization allows real-world trade assets such as receivables and invoices to be represented digitally and transferred instantly. Instead of remaining locked within local banking systems, these assets can be accessed by a global pool of investors seeking yield.

For exporters, this means faster access to capital without waiting months for payment. For investors, it opens exposure to real economic activity rather than speculative instruments alone. For SMEs, particularly in developing economies, tokenized trade assets create a bridge between their businesses and global liquidity markets.

This evolution mirrors what has already happened with other asset classes. Tokenized government bonds, funds and private credit instruments have grown into tens of billions of dollars. Yet trade finance, despite being significantly larger, remains underrepresented onchain. This imbalance signals not a lack of demand, but untapped potential.

As blockchain adoption expands, trade finance appears poised to become the next major wave of real-world asset tokenization.

Regulation Is No Longer the Barrier It Once Was

For years, legal uncertainty prevented digital trade instruments from gaining widespread adoption. If an electronic document had no legal standing, tokenizing it offered little real value.

That reality has changed.

Global policy frameworks now recognize electronic trade documents as legally enforceable. International standards such as the UN Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records have laid the groundwork for cross-border digital trade. National legislation, including the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act, has reinforced the legal equivalence of digital records.

In parallel, regulatory clarity around stablecoins has strengthened blockchain-based settlement. With fully reserved, regulated stablecoins now recognized as compliant payment instruments, onchain settlement can be integrated into global trade flows with confidence.

This combination of legal recognition and financial regulation removes one of the final structural barriers to tokenized trade finance.

Institutional Infrastructure Is Catching Up

The shift is no longer theoretical. Ports, logistics providers, customs authorities and multinational banks are actively digitizing trade processes. Institutional decentralized finance platforms are emerging to connect real-world trade credit with blockchain-based liquidity.

Crypto’s Next Defining Battle: Privacy in a World Built on Transparency

The cryptocurrency industry is approaching a decisive crossroads. As blockchain technology moves steadily from niche experimentation into banks, payment networks and even state-backed financial systems, a fundamental contradiction is becoming impossible to ignore: public ledgers were never designed for mass financial privacy.

For years, transparency has been celebrated as one of crypto’s greatest strengths. Every transaction can be verified, traced and audited by anyone. Yet as institutional adoption accelerates, that same transparency is emerging as a critical weakness. Financial systems do not scale when every payment, transfer and business relationship is exposed to the entire world.

This tension is now shaping what many experts believe will be crypto’s next major structural battle — the fight to reconcile privacy with public blockchain design.

Why Financial Privacy Matters More Than Ever

In traditional finance, transactions are not anonymous, but they are also not publicly broadcast. Banks, payment processors and regulators can access data when necessary, but everyday financial activity is shielded from competitors, criminals and casual observers.

Public blockchains break this norm entirely. Every movement of funds is visible by default, creating an environment where sensitive financial behavior can be analyzed, mapped and exploited. While individual users may tolerate this in limited cases, institutions cannot.

Corporations rely on confidentiality. Banks depend on discretion. Governments require controlled access to data rather than full exposure. When transaction histories become permanently public, risks multiply — from corporate espionage to personal security threats.

This growing discomfort explains why privacy is no longer a fringe concern. It has become a central requirement for crypto’s survival as a global financial infrastructure.

Institutional Adoption Is Accelerating the Conflict

Banks and payment companies are actively testing blockchain-based settlement systems. Tokenized assets, on-chain payments and programmable money promise efficiency, speed and automation far beyond legacy infrastructure.

However, few institutions are willing to conduct routine financial activity on open ledgers where competitors can infer business strategies, cash flows or supplier relationships. Transparency that benefits auditors becomes a liability when it exposes proprietary data.

This is where the clash intensifies. Blockchain’s core architecture prioritizes openness, while real-world finance depends on selective visibility. Without a credible privacy layer, large-scale adoption faces a hard ceiling.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs: A Promising but Unfinished Solution

Privacy-preserving technologies, particularly zero-knowledge proofs, are widely seen as the most viable compromise. ZK systems allow transactions or identities to be verified without revealing the underlying data. In theory, this enables compliance without mass surveillance.

Instead of broadcasting everything, users could prove they meet regulatory requirements while keeping sensitive details hidden. This mirrors how the existing financial system operates, where information is available to authorized parties but invisible to the public.

Despite years of discussion and technical progress, real-world adoption remains limited. Major exchanges rarely use ZK technology for identity verification. Large financial institutions remain cautious. The tools exist, but deployment at scale has lagged behind the promise.

The Regulator’s Chicken-and-Egg Dilemma

Regulators are no longer dismissing privacy technology outright. Many policymakers now understand how zero-knowledge systems work and recognize their potential. The hesitation lies elsewhere.

Supervisors want proof that these tools can function reliably under real-world conditions, at national or even global scale. They want to see how enforcement, audits and investigations would work in practice before granting regulatory approval.

The industry, however, needs regulatory clarity to deploy these systems in the first place. Without clear rules, few companies are willing to take the risk of implementing privacy technology that may later be deemed non-compliant.

This creates a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Regulators want evidence before approval, while developers need approval before deployment.

CBDCs and the Surveillance Question

Central bank digital currencies bring the privacy debate into sharp focus. Unlike private blockchains or payment platforms, CBDCs place governments directly at the center of digital money flows.

Wholesale CBDCs, used only by banks and financial institutions, largely resemble existing settlement systems and raise limited public concern. The real controversy surrounds retail CBDCs, where individual transactions could be monitored, stored and analyzed at unprecedented scale.

Different regions illustrate different priorities. China’s digital yuan aligns with an already expansive surveillance framework, offering authorities broad visibility into transactions. European policymakers, by contrast, emphasize that a digital euro would protect user privacy.

The challenge is that privacy cannot be guaranteed by statements alone. Design choices determine who controls access, how exceptions are handled and whether safeguards can withstand future political pressure.

CBDCs are not just new payment tools. They are stress tests for how much financial data states are willing to collect and retain in the digital age.

Privacy Does Not Mean Total Secrecy

One of the biggest misconceptions in this debate is the idea that privacy equals anonymity. In reality, financial privacy is about control, not invisibility.

Most users accept that banks, intermediaries and law enforcement can access transaction data when justified. What they reject is universal exposure — a system where everyone can see everything all the time.

Public blockchains push transparency beyond what societies are accustomed to. Centralized digital systems risk concentrating too much power over data in a single authority. Both extremes create problems.

The challenge is finding a middle ground where transactions are private by default, auditable when necessary and protected against abuse over time.

Early Movers Are Shaping the Future

Despite regulatory uncertainty, some projects are moving ahead. Privacy-focused platforms and research groups are actively developing zero-knowledge systems that enable selective disclosure rather than full concealment.

These efforts aim to preserve blockchain’s benefits — auditability, programmability and trust minimization — while restoring financial norms that users and institutions expect.

Policy groups are also engaging regulators, arguing that privacy technology can support compliance with data protection laws rather than undermine them. In Europe, zero-knowledge proofs are already being studied in the context of digital identity and regulatory frameworks.

The Outcome Will Define Crypto’s Role in Finance

The future of crypto will not be decided by price cycles alone. It will be shaped by whether the industry can solve the privacy paradox at its core.

A system that exposes everything cannot support global finance. A system that hides everything cannot satisfy regulators. The next phase of crypto must bridge that gap.

Privacy is no longer optional. It is the next battleground — and how it is resolved will determine whether blockchain becomes a foundational layer of the financial system or remains a limited experiment on the margins.

Galaxy Prepares $100 Million Hedge Fund as Crypto Markets Enter a New Era

Galaxy Digital is stepping into a new phase of crypto investing with the planned launch of a $100 million hedge fund designed to profit from both rising and falling markets. As the era of uninterrupted upside in digital assets shows signs of fading, the firm is positioning itself to capitalize on volatility rather than momentum alone.

The fund, expected to debut in the first quarter of the year, reflects a broader shift in how institutional players approach crypto. Instead of relying on a bullish market cycle, Galaxy aims to deploy a flexible strategy that embraces uncertainty and structural change across both digital assets and traditional financial markets.

A Long-Short Strategy Built for Volatility

Unlike earlier crypto-focused funds that depended heavily on price appreciation, Galaxy’s new hedge fund will actively take long and short positions. This approach allows the fund to generate returns whether prices move higher or lower, a structure increasingly favored as markets mature and speculative excess cools.

Roughly thirty percent of the fund’s capital will be allocated directly to crypto tokens, while the remaining assets will be invested in publicly traded companies tied to financial infrastructure. These include firms influenced by digital asset regulation, blockchain integration, payments innovation, and data-driven financial services.

According to reports, Galaxy has already secured the full $100 million in commitments from family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and select institutional investors. The firm itself will also seed the fund, signaling internal confidence in the strategy, although the exact amount has not been disclosed.

The End of Crypto’s  Up-Only  Phase

Joe Armao, who will oversee the fund, believes the crypto market is transitioning into a more complex phase. He argues that the period where prices moved predominantly higher is likely coming to an end, replaced by an environment where selectivity, risk management, and active positioning matter far more.

Despite this shift, Galaxy remains optimistic about major blockchain networks. Ethereum and Solana continue to be viewed as structurally strong assets with long-term relevance, particularly as decentralized finance, tokenization, and onchain infrastructure evolve. Bitcoin also remains central to Galaxy’s outlook, especially in a macroeconomic setting where potential US Federal Reserve rate cuts could reshape investor appetite for alternative assets.

Armao has noted that Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge could persist as long as traditional markets such as equities and gold maintain relative stability.

Watching Wall Street Alongside Web3

Galaxy’s strategy extends beyond crypto-native companies. The firm is closely monitoring traditional financial stocks that are being reshaped by regulation, blockchain adoption, and artificial intelligence. Recent sell-offs in payment processors and financial data companies have created opportunities that Galaxy believes are being misunderstood by the market.

Companies like Fiserv, which sit at the intersection of payments and data infrastructure, are experiencing valuation pressure as investors reassess their future roles in a digitized financial system. Galaxy sees these shifts not as risks, but as entry points for long-term positioning.

Market Pullbacks Create Strategic Openings

The launch of the fund comes amid a notable cooling in the crypto market. Bitcoin has fallen roughly thirty percent from its October peak and is currently trading near the $90,000 level. Over the past year, the asset is down approximately twelve percent, reflecting broader risk-off sentiment across digital markets.

Key Takeaway: You shouldn't have to hand over your passport scan just to prove you are human. Decentralized identity fixes the broken internet.

How many times today have you clicked "Log in with Google" or "Log in with Facebook"? It is convenient, sure. But every time you do that, you are making a deal with the devil. You are trading your privacy for convenience.

In the current Web2 model, we don't own our identities. We rent them. If Google bans your account tomorrow, you lose your email, your photos, and your access to hundreds of third-party sites. You disappear digitally.

Furthermore, with AI deepfakes and massive data breaches becoming a weekly occurrence in 2026, the old way of storing passwords in a central database is obsolete. We need a new model. We need Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI).

The Problem with "Data Silos"

Right now, your identity is fragmented. Your bank has a copy of your ID. Your healthcare provider has your medical records. Amazon has your credit card.

These are called Data Silos. They are honey pots for hackers. If just one of these companies has weak security (like the infamous Equifax breach), your identity gets stolen. You bear all the risk, while the corporations reap all the profit from selling your data.

Blockchain changes this architecture entirely. Instead of your data living on their servers, it lives in your wallet.

What is Decentralized Identity (DID)?

Imagine a digital wallet on your phone. Inside it, you have "Verifiable Credentials."

These are digital stamps from trusted authorities. The government issues a stamp saying you are a citizen. Your university issues a stamp saying you have a degree. Your bank issues a stamp saying you are solvent.

When you want to rent an apartment, you don't hand over a photocopy of your driver's license and bank statement (which the landlord could steal). You simply share a cryptographic proof from your wallet. The landlord verifies the proof instantly on the blockchain without ever storing your actual data.

The Magic of Zero-Knowledge Proofs

This technology gets even more powerful when combined with Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs).

ZKPs allow you to prove a fact without revealing the data behind it.

• The Bar Scene: To enter a bar, you show your ID. The bouncer sees your name, your address, and your exact birthdate. He knows too much.
• The ZKP Solution: You scan a QR code. The bouncer's scanner simply gets a "Green Checkmark" confirming you are over 21. He doesn't know your name, your age, or where you live. He just knows you are allowed inside.

This is the future of the internet. You prove you are human, or creditworthy, or over 18, without doxxing yourself to every website you visit.

Why Crypto Needs Identity

For the crypto industry, this is the Holy Grail. We want to keep the decentralized nature of DeFi, but we also need to stop money laundering and bots.

Decentralized Identity allows for "compliant DeFi." You could trade on a platform that requires KYC (Know Your Customer) without the platform actually storing your passport photo on a vulnerable server. You just connect your DID, the smart contract verifies you are not a sanctioned individual, and you are approved to trade.

It bridges the gap between the anonymity of the Cypherpunks and the safety required by regulators.

Conclusion

We are moving from an era where we are "users" to an era where we are "owners." Digital Identity Management isn't just about security; it is about dignity. It is about the right to exist online without being tracked, databased, and sold.

Key Takeaway: Unlike Bitcoin, where every transaction is public, Monero is anonymous by default. It is the digital equivalent of physical cash.

There is a massive misconception in cryptocurrency. Newcomers often believe that Bitcoin is anonymous. They think that because their name isn't on the wallet, nobody knows what they are doing.

In reality, Bitcoin is pseudonymous. It is actually the most transparent financial system ever invented. With modern Chain Analysis tools in 2026, governments and corporations can easily track the flow of funds, link wallets to real-world identities, and trace every penny you have ever spent.

Monero (XMR) was built to solve this. Launched in 2014, it is the only major cryptocurrency where privacy isn't an optional setting; it is mandatory. It is the "black box" of the crypto world, ensuring that your financial history remains exactly where it belongs: with you.

The Technology of Secrecy

How does Monero hide the money? It uses three distinct cryptographic technologies to obscure the sender, the receiver, and the amount.

First, there are Ring Signatures. When you sign a transaction on Monero, the network mixes your digital signature with the signatures of several other users (decoys) pulled from the blockchain. To an outside observer, it looks like a group of people signed the transaction, but it is mathematically impossible to know which one of them actually spent the money.

Second, there are Stealth Addresses. Every time you receive Monero, the protocol creates a unique, one-time address for that specific transaction. Even if you publish your main wallet address on your Twitter bio, nobody can look it up on a block explorer to see your balance.

Finally, Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT) hides the amount. It proves that the inputs match the outputs (so no money was printed out of thin air) without revealing the actual number.

The Concept of Fungibility

Beyond privacy, Monero’s most important economic feature is Fungibility.

In the Bitcoin world, not all coins are equal. If you receive a Bitcoin that was previously used in a hack or a crime, exchanges might freeze your account because that specific coin is "tainted." This is a major flaw for a currency.

Because Monero's history is untraceable, there is no such thing as a "tainted" Monero. One XMR is always equal to one XMR, regardless of where it came from or who held it before. This makes it the only cryptocurrency that truly functions like physical cash or gold.

The People vs. The Power

Because it is so effective, Monero has a target on its back.

Regulators worldwide hate it. They view it as a tool for tax evasion and illicit trade. Over the last few years, we have seen immense pressure placed on centralized exchanges to delist privacy coins. Many major platforms capitulated, removing XMR trading pairs to satisfy banking partners.

However, Monero has survived. It doesn't have a CEO to arrest. It doesn't have a marketing department to sue. It is a true grassroots movement run by volunteers and Cypherpunks. Despite the delistings, its usage on peer-to-peer markets and decentralized exchanges has only grown.

Mining for the Masses

Monero is also unique in how it is created. While Bitcoin mining is dominated by massive industrial warehouses full of ASIC machines, Monero uses an algorithm called RandomX.

This algorithm is designed to be ASIC-resistant. It is optimized for CPUs—the processor inside your standard laptop or desktop computer. This keeps the network decentralized. You don't need millions of dollars to mine Monero; you just need a computer and an internet connection. It is the most egalitarian mining network in existence.

Conclusion

Monero is more than an investment; it is a statement. It asserts that financial privacy is a human right, not a crime. As we move toward a world of total financial surveillance, the value of a digital asset that cannot be frozen, tracked, or censored becomes undeniable.

Key Takeaways:

• The debate over whether Ether is a security or a commodity determines how it is regulated.
• The approval of Spot ETFs largely signaled that regulators view ETH as a commodity.
• This classification protects the network from strict securities laws that apply to stocks.

The question of Ethereum security classification has been the biggest regulatory headache in crypto history. For years the SEC and the CFTC fought a turf war over who gets to regulate the second largest cryptocurrency. If it is a security it falls under strict banking laws. If it is a commodity it is treated like digital oil or gold.

This distinction matters because securities laws are designed for companies with CEOs and quarterly reports. Ethereum is a decentralized network with no central office. For investors in 2026 the answer to this question defines the safety and legality of their portfolio.

Why Is the Classification So Confusing?

The confusion stems from the 2014 ICO (Initial Coin Offering). In the beginning investors sent Bitcoin to the Ethereum Foundation and received Ether in return. This looked a lot like a stock sale which usually triggers Ethereum security laws.

However the network evolved. It became sufficiently decentralized. In 2018 a famous speech by William Hinman of the SEC suggested that ETH had morphed from a security into a commodity. This lack of clarity kept institutions on the sidelines for years as they feared a lawsuit.

Did the ETFs Settle the Debate?

Yes they largely did. When the US regulators approved Spot Ethereum ETFs they implicitly admitted that ETH is a commodity. You cannot have a Spot ETF for an unregistered security.

Obscure Laws Continue to Delay the Creation of a US Bitcoin Reserve

A Strategic Idea Trapped Inside Legal Complexity

The concept of the United States establishing a national Bitcoin reserve has evolved from a fringe discussion into an official government initiative. Yet, despite growing political acknowledgment and increasing global interest in Bitcoin as a strategic asset, the plan remains stalled. According to Patrick Witt, Director of the White House Crypto Council, the delay has little to do with political resistance and everything to do with complicated and often overlooked legal frameworks.

In recent remarks, Witt confirmed that multiple federal agencies are actively engaged in discussions about the reserve. However, conflicting legal authorities and outdated statutory provisions continue to slow progress. What seems like a simple decision from the outside quickly becomes a maze once federal law and agency mandates are examined in detail.

Inside the White House Crypto Council’s Struggle

Witt revealed that agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Office of Legal Counsel are deeply involved in evaluating whether existing laws allow the government to formally establish and manage a Bitcoin reserve. Each agency operates under strict legal boundaries, many of which were written long before digital assets existed.

The challenge lies in determining which agency has the legal authority to hold Bitcoin, how it should be classified on federal balance sheets, and whether current laws permit long-term custody of a decentralized asset. These  obscure  provisions, as Witt described them, have become the main obstacle rather than political disagreement.

Despite the complexity, Witt stressed that the initiative remains active and has not been abandoned.

Trump’s Executive Order: A Historic Yet Limited Step

In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that formally created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve alongside a broader Digital Asset Stockpile. This move marked the first time Bitcoin was recognized at the executive level as a potential strategic reserve asset.

The order required the federal government to retain all Bitcoin already in its possession and explicitly prohibited selling those holdings. However, it also placed strict limitations on how the reserve could grow. The government was only allowed to add Bitcoin obtained through asset forfeiture cases, effectively banning direct market purchases.

While symbolic and historic, the order failed to satisfy much of the Bitcoin community, which had expected a more aggressive and forward-looking accumulation strategy.

Why Bitcoin Supporters Felt Let Down

For many Bitcoin advocates, the announcement felt incomplete. A reserve that relies solely on seized assets lacks the strategic intent associated with national reserves like gold or foreign currencies. Critics argue that refusing to acquire Bitcoin on the open market undermines the credibility of the entire initiative.

Bitcoin maximalist voices were particularly vocal. Some claimed that the administration’s approach reflected caution bordering on avoidance, suggesting that Washington was unwilling to fully commit to a fixed-supply asset that exists outside traditional monetary control.

The disappointment intensified when a long-anticipated digital asset policy report released in mid-2025 made no meaningful reference to expanding the Bitcoin reserve. For many investors, this confirmed fears that progress was largely symbolic.

Treasury Signals a Possible Shift in Strategy

Momentum briefly returned in August 2025 when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed the idea of acquiring Bitcoin through budget-neutral strategies. These approaches would allow the government to accumulate BTC without increasing the national deficit or burdening taxpayers.

Such strategies could involve reallocating existing reserve assets, converting portions of traditional holdings into Bitcoin, or using gains from revalued metals reserves to fund purchases. Although no official plan has been implemented, the proposal reopened serious discussion about whether the US could become an active participant in Bitcoin markets.

If adopted, this approach could dramatically reshape global perceptions of Bitcoin’s role in sovereign finance.

Why a US Bitcoin Reserve Would Change Everything

A fully operational US Bitcoin reserve would represent a turning point not only for cryptocurrency markets but for the global financial system. It would signal that Bitcoin has matured beyond speculation and is now considered a legitimate strategic asset by the world’s largest economy.