Adam Livingston, author of “The Bitcoin Age and The Great Harvest,” has proposed that the United States government direct its substantial customs tariff surplus into building a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Author’s proposal for bitcoin reserve
Livingston suggests funneling a portion of the growing surplus from US trade tariffs into secure, multi-signature cold storage bitcoin holdings, which would not be traded, staked, or rehypothecated.
He emphasizes the untapped potential of current surplus revenues:
“As of July, we’ve collected $135.7 billion in customs duties — double last year’s pace. Let me repeat that we’re sitting on a $70 billion surplus from tariffs, and we haven’t even finished the fiscal year. That Surplus is unallocated. It’s not pre-spent. It’s not tied to Medicare, entitlements, or debt service. It’s just floating, waiting, looking for a productive use case.”
Policy context and executive order
The proposal aligns with the current executive order on the US strategic bitcoin reserve, which mandates that further government bitcoin acquisitions must use budget-neutral strategies.
Livingston’s approach would meet this requirement by utilizing surplus funds rather than new spending.
Treasury secretary’s mixed signals
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent initially stated that the government would not be purchasing new bitcoin for its reserve.
Bessent later clarified, however, that the government is still “exploring budget-neutral pathways” to increase its bitcoin holdings.
Other suggestions include revaluing the Treasury’s gold, reallocating existing reserve assets, or selling oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to acquire bitcoin.
