US ought to fund Bitcoin strategic reserve with tariff surplus: Author

The United States authorities should purchase extra Bitcoin (BTC) for the US strategic reserve by way of funneling parts of the tariff receipt surplus into BTC acquisitions, in response to Adam Livingston, writer of “The Bitcoin Age and The Great Harvest.”

Livingston proposed taking a portion of the surpluses generated by commerce tariffs each month and funneling that into safe, chilly storage BTC that isn’t traded, staked, offered, rehypothecated, used to fund applications or safe loans, or lent out for yield. He stated:

“As of July, we have collected $135.7 billion in customs duties — double final 12 months’s tempo. Let me repeat that we’re sitting on a $70 billion surplus from tariffs, and we have not even completed the fiscal 12 months.”

That Surplus is unallocated. It’s not pre-spent. It’s not tied to Medicare, entitlements, or debt service. It’s simply floating, ready, on the lookout for a productive use case, ” Livingston continued.

Cumulative reciepts present the US authorities collected about $136 billion in customs duties by way of the 2025 fiscal 12 months to this point. Source: US Treasury Department

The proposal to fund the US Bitcoin strategic reserve with the tariff surplus could possibly be a path for the federal government to purchase extra BTC below US President Trump’s government order, stipulating that further BTC can solely be acquired by way of budget-neutral methods.

US Treasury Secretary sends blended indicators on strategic reserve

Scott Bessent, secretary of the United States Treasury Department, stated on Thursday that the US authorities would not be shopping for any new BTC for the strategic reserve

“We’re not going to be shopping for that, however we’re going to use confiscated property and proceed to construct that up,” Bessent advised Fox Business.