~ Bitcoin Goes to Washington ~
Earlier this week, members of the Onramp team attended the 2025 Bitcoin Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by @btcpolicyorg.
This was a different kind of Bitcoin conference—one where the dominant themes weren’t price, speculation, or hype, but policy, statecraft, and long-term strategic planning.
The tone was serious. The participants were credible. And the conversation reflected a growing recognition: Bitcoin is no longer fringe.
Here are the key takeaways:
➤ Concept to Implementation: Strategic Bitcoin Reserves
The “SBR” concept—initially floated as a thought experiment over a year ago—is now a formal legislative proposal, supported by an Executive Order from @realDonaldTrump.
At the summit, BPI unveiled its State-Level Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Toolkit, which Onramp is proud to have helped craft. The document lays out the legal, operational, and custodial framework for states to acquire and manage Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
Multi-institution custody (MIC) is central to the proposal, offering a fault-tolerant architecture with no single point of failure, designed for cold storage, geographic redundancy, and long-term resilience.
Several states are actively reviewing the blueprint.
➤ Legislative Progress Is Accelerating
Senators @SenLummis and @MarshaBlackburn provided updates on multiple bills moving through Congress. The GENIUS Act, passed by the Senate, marks the first piece of legislation to emerge from the Banking Committee in nearly a decade. A broader market structure bill is advancing as well—with bipartisan support and significantly more rigor than 2024’s FIT21 bill.
➤ Bitcoin as a Fiscal Hedge
Economists @RebelEconProf and @WilliamJLuther presented a sobering overview of the U.S. fiscal outlook. Debt-to-GDP has returned to post-WWII levels—without the wartime justification—and the structural drivers of spending are largely untouchable.
In this context, Bitcoin offers an alternative. Strategic Bitcoin reserves won’t fix the problem alone, but they can help restore fiscal discipline and capacity over time without relying on monetary debasement or financial repression.
➤ The American Bitcoin Advantage
@River CEO @Leishman presented compelling data on Bitcoin ownership in the U.S., including:
— 40% of all BTC holdings reside in America
— 95% of public co. BTC holdings belong to U.S. firms
— 80% of BTC ETF assets are held domestically
— Over half of the top 25 hedge funds and RIAs have exposure via BTC ETFs
Bitcoin is becoming a widely held, institutionally accessible monetary asset—with most of its infrastructure anchored in the United States.
There is growing recognition that America has a significant advantage with respect to Bitcoin, and we cannot afford to squander our lead relative to global players.
➤ U.S. Ownership Is Widespread & Values-Driven
In a panel led by @thetrocro, research showed 18.6% of Americans own Bitcoin, with ownership cutting across demographics. Holders tend to value economic freedom, transparency, and utility—driven more by trust in Bitcoin than political affiliation. Adoption increasingly reflects personal financial conviction, not ideology.
➤ Bitcoin Goes Global: Sovereign Exposure Accelerates
Director at Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute @sekreps presented data showing 32 countries with active or exploratory sovereign Bitcoin exposure—including reserves, mining, pensions, and tax strategies.
The message: Bitcoin is fast becoming a strategic asset in global economic planning.
➤ National Security & Energy Policy
Deputy Director of the White House Council on Digital Assets, @patrickjwitt, emphasized the role of Bitcoin within a broader industrial and strategic policy framework: digital infrastructure, resilient compute, and global capital market access.
As the U.S. reevaluates its competitive positioning, Bitcoin is now part of the national security and industrial base discourse.
Custody Standards Are Evolving
One of the most important moments of the summit came during a fireside chat between BPI’s @zackbshapiro and SEC Commissioner @HesterPeirce.
Shapiro laid out the logic behind Bitcoin-native custody frameworks like multi-institution custody—highlighting their inherent advantages over legacy models that rely on a single “qualified custodian.”
Commissioner Peirce’s response was measured but encouraging: she acknowledged that custody models grounded in the protocol’s design may in fact offer stronger guarantees than incumbent structures.
This is a critical development. As regulatory thinking matures, there’s growing recognition that secure Bitcoin custody doesn’t need to conform to legacy molds—it can (and should) align with the properties of the asset itself.
Broader Reflections
Bitcoin is being discussed not as a speculative instrument, but as a monetary tool, strategic reserve asset, and infrastructure layer.
MIC is emerging as the most robust standard for Bitcoin custody and being formalized in public policy frameworks.
U.S. fiscal policymakers are acknowledging that existing debt trajectories are unsustainable—and that Bitcoin could play a constructive role.
Bitcoin adoption continues to broaden, not just institutionally, but demographically.
The conversation in D.C. is no longer about whether Bitcoin survives—it’s about how to integrate it safely, securely, and strategically.
Policy is often slow to catch up to innovation—but the gap is narrowing. Bitcoin is being taken seriously at the highest levels of economic, technological, and geopolitical planning.
Custody, governance, and strategic reserve policy are now in focus. The frameworks are being written. And Onramp is helping shape the next chapter—one where Bitcoin becomes a foundational component of institutional portfolios, public balance sheets, and long-term wealth planning.