WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a

strategic bitcoin reserve, a day before meeting with executives

from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House.

The reserve will be capitalized with bitcoin owned by the

federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or

civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the White House crypto czar,

billionaire David Sacks, said in a post on social media platform

X.

Attendees at Friday's White House crypto summit expect the

event to serve as a stage for Trump to formally announce his

plans to build a strategic reserve containing bitcoin and four

other cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this week, Trump announced the names of five digital

assets he expects to include in this reserve, spiking the market

value of each. The five are bitcoin, ether, XRP, solana and

cardano, the president said.

It is not clear how such a reserve would work or how it

would benefit taxpayers. Sacks said the federal government will

have a strategy to maximize the value of its holdings in such a

reserve, without offering details.

"The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the

Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is

like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called

"digital gold","Sacks said.

Trump's moves to support the crypto industry, which spent

millions backing him and other Republicans in the November

elections, have drawn concern from some conservatives and crypto

backers over giveaways to an already wealthy community and

delegitimizing the digital currency industry.

Proponents argue that a reserve would help taxpayers benefit

from crypto's price growth.

Trump's executive order directed the secretaries of Treasury

and Commerce to develop "budget-neutral strategies" for

acquiring additional bitcoin that have no "incremental costs" on

taxpayers.

Sacks estimated the U.S. government owns about 200,000

bitcoin and premature sale of the cryptocurrency has cost the

American taxpayer $17 billion. It wasn't clear how Sacks arrived

at these estimates.

The president's support for the crypto industry has also

sparked conflict-of-interest concerns. Trump's family has

launched cryptocurrency meme coins, and the president also holds

a stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform.

His aides have said Trump has handed over control of his

business ventures, which are being reviewed by outside ethics

lawyers.