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The US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Key Takeaways

  • President Trump signed an EO last week to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
  • The US government’s digital asset holdings stem from criminal asset recovery
  • A US SBR will diversify national holdings, much like the gold reserve

Digital Asset Commentary

The macro risk-off rally continues as concerns about economic growth and recession intensify. Bitcoin, still considered a risk asset by many, has not been immune to the downturn—despite last week’s Executive Order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and a digital asset stockpile. Only Bitcoin (BTC) was designated as a potential addition to the reserve, provided it is acquired in a budget-neutral manner. Other digital assets in the stockpile, which are set to undergo an audit, may be liquidated to purchase more BTC. A potential strategy to acquire more BTC for the SBR may include using the country’s vast energy resources to obtain more BTC directly via mining.

The current reserve consists of coins obtained through law enforcement actions and civil asset forfeiture. Of the nearly 200,000 BTC currently held in the SBR, almost half originates from a 2015 exchange hack and is slated for return to its original owner, Bitfinex.

Arguments for any country to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) include hedging against fiat devaluation, diversifying reserves, enhancing sovereignty and financial independence, providing insurance against geopolitical uncertainty, and capitalizing on Bitcoin’s growth potential. Conversely, arguments against an SBR primarily cite Bitcoin’s volatility and the lack of historical precedent for long-term stability. Unlike gold, BTC is easier and cheaper to custody, offers greater portability, and is resistant to seizure. Advances in Multi-Party Computation (MPC) custody leverage multi-signature technology, ensuring that a transaction is authorized only when the required signature threshold is met.

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Steven McClurg

Founder, CEO

Prior to founding Canary, Steven co-founded and served as CIO of Valkyrie Investments, whose public funds business was acquired by CoinShares in 2024. He was previously a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, overseeing portfolio strategy for fixed income and private equity. He also founded Theseus Capital (acquired by Galaxy Digital) and served as an MD at Galaxy. Steven holds a Master of Science and MBA from Pepperdine University, where he has served as an adjunct professor.

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Drew Hill

President, CLO

Drew is a seasoned digital asset attorney with deep expertise in securities law and fund compliance. Before Canary, he was GC and CCO at Valkyrie Investments and a key figure in Frost Brown Todd LLC’s Blockchain and M&A practice. He holds a BA in Finance & Spanish from the University of Oregon and a JD from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law.

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Jamal Pesaran

Co-Chief Investment Officer

Jamal Pesaran, CFA, is Co-Chief Investment Officer for Canary Capital LLC. With 30 years of investment experience, he has extensive portfolio management, trade execution as well as client-facing experience.

As Senior Portfolio Manager with Guggenheim Partners, Jamal helped build the Guggenheim Equities business and developed the income focused and risk-managed strategies with AUM of over $4 Billion. With Morgan Stanley, as Senior PM and CIO for an Ultra High Net worth team, he managed both Active equity, fixed income strategies as well as overall portfolio allocations across alternative assets. Prior to joining Canary Capital, as Head of Capital Markets for Clifton AI, he helped develop and market a Gen-AI platform for Investment Research. His experience includes extensive portfolio management experience as Senior Equity Options Portfolio Manager, across European, US and Asian markets with Goldman Sachs and UBS Securities. He worked in Equity Derivatives Hedge Fund Sales with Lehman Brothers in New York and HSBC in Hong Kong.

He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson where he was awarded the Edward Carter Fellowship for academic performance in the top 2% of the class.

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Josh Olszewicz

VP, Head of Trading

With over a decade in digital asset markets, Josh leads Canary’s trading strategy and research. He previously headed crypto research at BraveNewCoin, was a portfolio manager at Techemy Capital, and served as Head of Research at Valkyrie Investments. Josh holds a BS in Human Biology and an MS in Biotechnology, and formerly taught lab sciences at the university level.

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Linnea Steffy

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Dylan Farnick

Associate Trader

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Business Development

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