US Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is doubling down on her efforts to legitimize Bitcoin and possibly add this digital asset to the country’s reserves.

In a November 21st interview, Lummis suggested that the US Federal Reserve sell some of its gold reserves to invest in the crypto. The Wyoming senator shared that the proceeds from selling a portion of gold reserves, valued at 1970 prices, can boost the US dollar and reduce the country’s growing debt.

Lummis’ announcement comes as BTC hit another all-time high and nears the $100k milestone. By pursuing a Bitcoin policy, the Federal Reserve can also benefit from higher returns.

Bitcoin is a “gold standard in digital assets, and setting up a strategic reserve can help the country’s financial strategy.

Lummis Says A BTC Reserve Can Boost USD, Reduce Debt

Lummis is one of the most outspoken supporters of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and pushed for the Bitcoin bill in the Senate. As a long-time crypto holder and supporter, the senator admitted owning five BTCs and putting them in a trust.

The lawmaker said that the government can adopt this strategy, start a crypto reserve, and hold these assets for at least two decades.

Explained: 🇺🇸 The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Breaking down the BITCOIN act — the bill introduced by Senator @CynthiaMLummis

– Buy 1m BTC over five years
– HODL for 20 years
– Proof of Reserves
– Protect Bitcoin property rights

TL;DR: 🚀🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/snnWP59FBc

— Julian Fahrer (@Julian__Fahrer) November 19, 2024

Lummis admitted that she met with incoming US President Donald Trump about the Bitcoin proposal. Under the newest Lummis plan, the gold certificates held at a dozen Federal Reserve banks can be converted to their current fair market value. The proceeds from the sale of the certificates, pegged at 1970s prices, can be used to buy BTC.

A Look At The Proposed US Bitcoin Reserve

The planned Bitcoin strategic fund combines some long-term investment phases carried out over several years. The Treasury purchases 200k Bitcoin yearly under the Bitcoin Act 2024 for five years with at least retaining the digital assets for 20 years.

BTCUSD trading at $97,500 on the daily chart: TradingView.com

To ensure fairness and transparency, the government shall implement a Proof of Reserve System, where the government will publish audited quarterly reports. If other agencies have BTC holdings, these will be consolidated under the proposed Strategic Reserve.

A provision is also for the usage of the reserved BTC as a safe financial mechanism that will enable the agencies to use BTC as long-term assets. Moreover, the government will establish a decentralized storage network that can protect the assets against vulnerabilities and risks.

Image: Reddit

Some Critics Question The Lummis Plan

Like most financial policies, the Lummis plan has its critics. According to Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), Lummis’ suggestion to create a Bitcoin reserve will not necessarily help the country solve its debt woes.

In a speech at the North American Blockchain Summit 2024, Roy argued that the Lummis plan cannot cover the growing debt, which is now at $35 trillion.

Roy shared that a BTC reserve will be a welcome move, but the government must still implement budget reports to address the $2 trillion annual deficit. He also raised the possibility that the country may abandon its BTC reserves in the future, similar to gold’s experience in the 1970s.

Featured image from ZeroCap, chart from TradingView

The price of Bitcoin (BTC)  rose by 7.99% in the past week to reach a new all-time high of $99,655 on November 22. Thereafter, the maiden cryptocurrency has experienced a slight retracement in the past 48 hours falling to around $98,200. However, speculations of a major price correction continue to emerge considering BTC’s impressive price rally over the past seven weeks.

Why Bitcoin Must Move Above $100,535 – Analyst

In an X post on November 23, Ali Martinez shared an intriguing prediction on Bitcoin’s potential price movement. According to the popular crypto analyst, the TD Sequential, used to spot potential price reversals, has indicated a sell signal on Bitcoin’s 12-hour chart, suggesting an incoming price dip. 

Martinez’s latest forecast aligns with popular expectations of a Bitcoin price correction amidst the asset’s 61.76% price gain from $60,500 in early October. This notion stems from various trading metrics and indicators. For example, Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index has perpetually remained in the overbought zone suggesting potential for a sudden price pullback.

Furthermore, fellow analyst Maartunn reports that BTC’s Fear & Greed Index has a 4.5-year high of 94. Generally, any Fear & Greed Index above 75 represents extreme greed among investors, which is overwhelmingly bullish but also presents room for overvaluation that precedes significant price corrections.

Of more concern, Maartun also notes that Bitcoin traders’ unrealized profit levels have reached 57% and are gradually approaching the local peak of 69% in March 2024 adding to the increased potential of price correction.

According to Ali Martinez, if BTC undergoes the much-anticipated correction as indicated by the TD Sequential and other factors, the crypto market leader could fall to $91,583. Amidst strong selling pressure, Bitcoin could further slide to $85,610 indicating a potential 12.64% decline from its present market price. 

However, Martinez also postulates that BTC could nullify the sell signal by the TD Sequential and avoid a major correction by closing above $100,535 on the 12-hour daily chart. Considering Bitcoin’s recent price movement and events such as excitement around Donald Trump’s electoral victory alongside increased ETF inflows, an uptrend continuation is definitely a strong possibility.

BTC Price Overview

According to data from CoinMarketCap, BTC trades at $98,213 reflecting a 0.44% decline in the past day. In tandem, the asset’s daily trading volume is valued at $44.02 billion having declined by 43.14%. However, Bitcoin remains largely profitable for long-term holders with gains of 45.06% in the past 30 days. With a market cap of $1.95 trillion, the premier cryptocurrency remains the world’s largest digital asset.

Bitcoin has often been referred to as the “digital gold,” as it has proven to be a unique asset class and, more importantly, a reliable store of value over the years. While gold surely outpaces BTC in age, both assets are commonly used by investors as a hedge against economic instability and inflation.

Interestingly, there is almost always a positive correlation between Bitcoin and gold, leading to limited diversification opportunities for investors. However, the latest data shows that the premier cryptocurrency and the precious metal have been decoupling from each other in recent weeks.

BTC Is Losing Correlation With Gold — What Next?

In a recent Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, an analyst with the pseudonym Darkforst talked about the existing relationship between the price of Bitcoin and gold. According to the pundit, there is an ongoing decoupling between the crypto market leader and the gold market.

For context, correlation is a metric that measures the degree of association (how closely related) of the direction of prices of two specific assets. When the value of correlation is positive, it implies that the two assets are moving in the same direction. It is worth mentioning that the closer the metric’s value is to 1, the more correlated the assets are.

On the flip side, a correlation value less than 0 indicates that the two assets are negatively correlated, meaning that they are moving in opposite directions. Similarly, the closer the correlation value is to -1, the less closely related the assets.

While the gold market has been performing well in recent months, the metal’s price has slumped over the past few weeks. On the other hand, the Bitcoin price has enjoyed a strong bullish momentum in November, forging successive all-time highs in recent weeks.

Source: CryptoQuant

As a result, the correlation between the price of Bitcoin and gold has slipped beneath the zero mark, moving into the negative territory, as shown in the chart above. According to Darkfost, the decoupling seems to be in BTC’s favor, as it could lead to a “liquidity shift” and cause more capital to flow into the flagship cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC is hovering around the $98,000 mark, reflecting an almost 1% decline in the past 24 hours. Nevertheless, the premier cryptocurrency’s performance on the weekly timeframe is still quite remarkable. According to data from CoinGecko, the market leader is up by more than 7% in the last seven days.

The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView