A research fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute says Taiwan should rethink adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset to hedge against global instability and the risk of war.
In a Tuesday report, Jacob Langenkamp argued that if China attempted reunification with Taiwan by military means—whether a blockade or full invasion—Bitcoin (BTC) would likely be the only reserve asset remaining fully accessible and spendable. “Uniquely for Taiwan, Bitcoin provides geopolitical resilience: in a PRC blockade or invasion, gold is stranded or seized and USD reserves face potential restrictions, but Bitcoin remains fully accessible without physical transport,” he wrote.
Nation-states have started to consider strategic Bitcoin reserves, a development viewed as bullish for the cryptocurrency. Last year Taiwan’s central bank explored the idea of a national Bitcoin reserve but rejected it in December, citing concerns over volatility, liquidity and custody, and instead highlighted the U.S. dollar as a safer option.
Langenkamp warned Taiwan is particularly exposed to U.S. dollar debasement because at least 80% of the central bank’s reserves and most of its trade are dollar-denominated. He said mounting U.S. debt, expanded Federal Reserve balance sheets, a possible AI-driven market downturn and weaker semiconductor revenues could accelerate dollar debasement.
He suggested that Bitcoin, alongside gold, could serve as a hedge against such debasement and that early adoption could let the Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBC) benefit from future price appreciation. “It can offer geopolitical insurance against scenarios that hopefully do not come to pass. It can open new methods of trade with less friction. Bitcoin can provide Taiwan with a great measure of monetary resilience,” Langenkamp wrote.
While acknowledging the CBC’s concerns about liquidity and volatility as legitimate, he argued these problems should lessen as Bitcoin matures and gains broader adoption, and they are manageable with institutional expertise in custody and risk management.
Although the CBC ruled out a formal reserve for now, it agreed to further test related technologies in a digital asset sandbox using crypto the government already possesses. Taiwanese lawmaker Ko Ju-Chun disclosed last year that the Ministry of Justice holds 210 Bitcoin—seized in criminal investigations and worth around $14 million. BitBo’s disclosed country holdings would place Taiwan seventh among national Bitcoin holders, behind El Salvador and ahead of Finland.
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