U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the U.S. will accelerate bitcoin mining by supporting the construction of its own power infrastructure and reducing reliance on the public power grid. He added that the U.S. will also consider incorporating bitcoin into the national economic account.
Commerce Secretary Lutnick disclosed that the U.S. will allow miners to build power plants and data centers near natural gas fields to accelerate Bitcoin mining in America. Lutnick previously claimed that the U.S. would welcome Bitcoin into the financing family of the global financial markets, and Cantor Fitzgerald would be the sponsor.
Secretary Lutnick also encouraged Bitcoin businesses to set up in the U.S., as he claimed that the Trump administration was doing everything in its power to welcome such companies to the U.S. in the wake of hostile treatment by the Biden administration. President Trump previously issued an executive order that established the United States Investment Accelerator (Investment Accelerator) office within the Department of Commerce.
Lutnick announces plans pushing for accelerated Bitcoin mining in America
🇺🇸 US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: "We are going to turbocharge #bitcoin mining in America." pic.twitter.com/RpS02rLbJO
— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio) April 28, 2025
According to Lutnick, the Investment Accelerator launched by the Commerce Department was aimed at helping firms that wanted to invest in America get new projects off the ground. He also envisioned the Investment Accelerator as beneficial to Bitcoin mining companies because it made clear to them what regulations they must understand and helped them obtain the necessary permits.
“We’re going to make it so that if you want to mine Bitcoin and you find the right place to do it, you can build your own power plant next to it.”
–Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Lutnick alluded to the notion that Bitcoin miners could use waste gas to power their operations without necessarily needing to be on the grid. He pointed out that miners were going to put their data centers on top of gas fields and then put a plant right next to them so that they would not be ‘beholden’ to drawing power from the existing grid.
Lutnick suggests viewing Bitcoin as a commodity and not as a currency
The Commerce Secretary also said Bitcoin was a commodity and it should be treated as a commodity like oil or gold. He stated that in treating bitcoin as a commodity, he was likely to consider having the Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) employ bitcoin in its calculations the same way it employed gold.
The BEA currently uses gold to refine and calculate its National Economic Accounts, which includes GDP. The bureau also accounted for gold in trade statistics, recording gold exports and imports as part of its International Transactions Accounts (ITAs).
Lutnick stressed that the Trump administration had true Bitcoin believers like himself and White House ‘AI and Crypto Czar’ David Sacks, and that he wanted to see Bitcoin thrive in America. He added that the goal was for the Bitcoin industry to figure out how to ‘win in America’ because the current administration planned to help the industry achieve the highest degree of success in the country, an approach that was the polar opposite approach of the previous Biden administration.
According to Lutnick, dealing in Bitcoin under the Biden administration was treated like ‘you were doing something wrong. He, however, pointed out that it was all in the ‘rear view mirror’ and it would ‘never come back.’
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