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And I simply second the motion. A sovereign wealth fund for a country that is 30 trillion in debt compounding at another 2 trillion a year at present rate should be using excess “free cashflow” to pay down said debt. Secondarily, the country that runs the reserve currency of the world, “My dollar – your problem” should not in any way be seen to invalidating this positional hegemony by blessing something new and possibly as ephemeral as crypto.

Cliff Asness: The New ‘Crypto Fort Knox’ Is as Dumb as It Sounds

To create a sovereign wealth fund dedicated to something five times or more as volatile as straight-up stocks is an awful idea.

By Cliff Asness
03.07.25 — Tech and Business

I’ve been managing money for 33 years now with some modest success. While there are some worthy competitors, it’s hard for me to remember a much worse idea than the U.S. launching a “strategic cryptocurrency reserve.” Nevertheless, on Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for just such a fund. David Sacks—Trump’s crypto czar—tweeted that the reserve would be “like a digital Fort Knox,” perhaps forgetting that the U.S. has been off the gold standard since 1933. In any case, his words do not diminish my scorn for this dangerous boondoggle, as I will explain below.

A sovereign wealth fund for the U.S., which President Trump has also begun planning, is inappropriate, unneeded, likely harmful, and potentially quite corrupt. But a strategic cryptocurrency reserve looks at a “normal” sovereign wealth fund and says, “Hold my beer,” as we are going to plaid.

Let’s start with regular old sovereign wealth funds. They are usually started by countries with surpluses, and/or specific sources of revenue (usually commodity based). They are not necessarily good ideas even in these circumstances. For instance, the surplus could often be put to better use to lower taxes, debt, fund worthy projects, or be given directly to citizens. Historically, some such funds have been run well, some poorly. Some have been run relatively free from corruption, while some have been used to foster corruption…

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