Strategic reserve

Topic

A proposed solution for the US to counteract Chinese market manipulation, involving the government acting as a buyer of last resort for critical materials like rare earths to stabilize prices and ensure supply.


First Mentioned

10/18/2025, 4:01:09 AM

Last Updated

10/18/2025, 4:03:31 AM

Research Retrieved

10/18/2025, 4:03:31 AM

Summary

The concept of a strategic reserve refers to a stockpile of commodities or items held back from normal use by governments, organizations, or businesses to address specific strategies or unexpected events. This principle has been applied across various sectors, from energy security, exemplified by the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve established after the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, to biodiversity preservation through initiatives like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Frozen Ark project. More recently, in March 2025, President Donald Trump announced the creation of the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded by forfeited bitcoin from the U.S. Treasury, aiming to position the U.S. as a global crypto leader with approximately 198,000 BTC. The U.S. is also considering a strategic reserve of rare earth minerals as a countermeasure in its trade disputes with China, underscoring the evolving and critical role of strategic reserves in national security and economic policy.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Purpose

    To address specific strategies, unexpected events, manage serious disruptions in supply, stabilize investments, and mitigate future supply disruptions.

  • Definition

    A reserve of a commodity or items that is held back from normal use by governments, organisations, or businesses in pursuance of a particular strategy or to cope with unexpected events.

  • Goal for US in Crypto

    Become the 'crypto capital of the world'

  • Svalbard Global Seed Vault Capacity

    4.5 million seed samples

  • Funding for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

    Forfeited bitcoin from the U.S. Treasury

  • Reaction to Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

    Mixed reactions, from some economists criticizing the idea, to governments of several states initializing similar projects.

  • US Bitcoin Holdings (as of August 2025)

    Approximately 198,000 BTC

  • US Strategic Petroleum Reserve Capacity

    714 million barrels (113,500,000 m3)

  • Key Proponent of Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

    President Donald Trump

  • Svalbard Global Seed Vault Current Samples

    Close to 1 million different agricultural seed samples

Timeline
  • The Arab oil embargo occurred, which was a significant factor leading to the creation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (Source: Web Search Results)

    1973-1974

  • The United States started the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate future supply disruptions. (Source: Web Search Results)

    1975

  • President George W. Bush announced that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be filled up to its 700 million barrels capacity. (Source: Web Search Results)

    2001-11-13

  • A document issued by the US Department of Defense defined a strategic reserve. (Source: DBPedia)

    2005

  • The Svalbard Global Seed Vault facility opened, focusing on collecting duplicate samples of plant seeds from around the world. (Source: DBPedia)

    2008

  • The UK Integrated Review pledged to make greater use of reserves in supporting domestic national security priorities. (Source: Web Search Results)

    2021

  • The UK Defence Command Paper expanded on the use of the Strategic Reserve, emphasizing its role in national resilience. (Source: Web Search Results)

    2023

  • President Donald Trump announced the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded by forfeited bitcoin from the U.S. Treasury. (Source: Summary)

    2025-03

  • The United States is estimated to hold about 198,000 BTC, making it the largest known state holder of bitcoin in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

    2025-08

U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is a reserve asset, funded by the United States Treasury's forfeited bitcoin, announced by President Donald Trump in March 2025. Separately, a digital asset stockpile for non-bitcoin assets was also created. Trump has previously stated that he wants the US to become the "crypto capital of the world". The reserve will be capitalized with bitcoin already owned by the federal government. The United States is the largest known state holder of bitcoin in the world, estimated to hold about 198,000 BTC, as of August 2025. The reserve has provoked mixed reactions, from some economists criticizing the idea, to governments of several states initializing similar projects.

Web Search Results
  • Strategic reserve - Wikipedia

    Jump to content # Strategic reserve Alemannisch Deutsch فارسی Français Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Svenska Tiếng Việt Edit links From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Supplies held for use after unexpected events For the military term, see Military reserve. A strategic reserve is the reserve of a commodity or items that is held back from normal use by governments, organisations, or businesses in pursuance of a particular strategy or to cope with unexpected events. [...] ### Energy strategic reserves [edit] > "Strategic reserve is a volume-based capacity mechanism in which a centrally established capacity is kept outside of the electricity market and is only used if the market participants do not offer enough generation to meet short-term demand." [...] Strategic reserve can be also applied as an economic instrument in order to stabilize investments in a specific industry and provide sufficient investment incentive as described in the following example. This time the strategic reserve is defined as a set of power plants or interruptible demand contracts, all controlled by the TSO (transmission system operator), that can be used during temporary lack electricity. The strategic reserve does not necessarily mean a change of available generation

  • What exactly is a strategic bitcoin reserve? - Atlantic Council

    First, what is a strategic reserve? A strategic reserve is a stock of a systemically important input, which can be released to manage serious disruptions in supply. The most well known example—the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR)—was created as a response to the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, as well as to meet the reserve obligations of the international energy program. Since the 1970s, the SPR has been tapped more than two dozen times for a range of reasons: from providing critical petroleum

  • Strategic Petroleum Reserves: What It Means, How It Works

    ## Understanding Strategic Petroleum Reserves Strategic petroleum reserves can help a country weather a sudden and temporary disruption in supply after a natural disaster, accident, or the imposition of economic sanctions. Strategic reserves are stockpiles of crude oil that have already been extracted and can be promptly refined into fuels. They are not to be confused with proved oil reserves, an estimate of crude still in the ground that could be extracted in the long term. [...] ## What Are Strategic Petroleum Reserves? Strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) are stockpiles of crude oil maintained by countries for release in the event of a supply disruption. [...] Strategic petroleum reserves are emergency crude stockpiles stored to support economic activity in the event of a supply disruption. The U.S., China, and Japan are leading crude oil consumers and maintain the largest strategic reserves. Releases from strategic reserves provide a one-time supply lift but may not be sufficient to address long-term scarcity.

  • Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States) - Wikipedia

    The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency stockpile of petroleum maintained by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). It is the largest publicly known emergency supply in the world; its underground tanks in Louisiana and Texas have capacity for 714 million barrels (113,500,000 m3). The United States started the petroleum reserve in 1975 to mitigate future supply disruptions as part of the international Agreement on an International Energy Program, after oil supplies were [...] The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is primarily a crude petroleum reserve, not a stockpile of refined petroleum fuels such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene. Although the United States maintains some extra supply of refined petroleum fuels, e.g., the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve and Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve") under the aegis of the Department of Energy (DOE), the government does not maintain gasoline reserves on anything like the scale of the SPR. The SPR is intended to give the [...] On November 13, 2001, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush announced that the SPR would be filled, saying, "The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an important element of our Nation's energy security. To maximize long-term protection against oil supply disruptions, I am directing the Secretary of Energy to fill the SPR up to its 700 million barrels (110,000,000 m3) capacity." The highest prior level was reached in 1994 with 592 million barrels (94,100,000 m3).

  • The Strategic Reserve: What it is, and why it could be you.

    By way of political context, the 2021 Integrated Review pledged to make greater use of reserves in supporting domestic national security priorities. This was expanded in the 2023 Defence Command Paper which observed that “prevailing in war is a national effort…The Strategic Reserve – built around the ex-regular reserve forces – will add further depth of capability, able to generate previously unassigned surge capacity and wider access to expertise in time of crisis or national emergency.” Of [...] If you’ve made it this far, the astute amongst you would have noted that I haven’t yet tried to define the ‘Strategic Reserve’. Prior to doing so, it is perhaps easier to articulate what I believe the ‘Active Reserve’ is: effectively all part-time volunteer reservists and ex-regular reserves serving in current appointments.3 Therefore, the ‘Strategic Reserve’, who may potentially be available to provide greater depth of national resilience and follow-on forces, are predominantly those [...] Whilst through the Command Plan, Defence has declared a Strategic Reserve, we have yet to outline a clear definition and vision of its responsibilities although this should be considered within a National Defence and Resilience Plan. A simple lexicon is required, with full alignment of single Service reserve and recall liabilities to aid understanding, both within and external to Defence. Although there may be a need to change some existing legislation, technology must be able to support the

A strategic reserve is the reserve of a commodity or items that is held back from normal use by governments, organisations, or businesses in pursuance of a particular strategy or to cope with unexpected events. A document issued by the US Department of Defense in 2005 defines a strategic reserve as follows: "An external reinforcing force which is not committed in advance to a specific Major Subordinate Command, but which can be deployed to any region for a mission decided at the time by the Major NATO Commander." There are several national and international projects aiming to preserve the existing natural wealth and diversity in case of mass extinction or a global catastrophe. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault facility, opened in 2008, focuses on collecting duplicate samples of plant seeds from all around the world and currently contains close to 1 million different agricultural seed samples. The final storage capacity is said to be 4.5 million seed samples. Another such institution, Frozen Ark, concentrates on DNA preservation of endangered animal species for generations.

Location Data

Rezervația Miru-Bora, Strategica, Voineasa, Mălaia, Vâlcea, 247750, România

attraction

Coordinates: 45.3936847, 23.6765579

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