New Delhi, March 10 -- If any other owner of a cryptocurrency platform had announced a national reserve of cryptocurrencies, howls of protest over conflict of interest would have rent the air.

When President Donald Trump declared that the US would create a Bitcoin reserve and a separate crypto stockpile, his fan base took it as a move to fulfil a campaign promise. But the proposal he unveiled last week seemed like a bit of a con.

For Bitcoin, the US government will merely rename its existing holdings as a strategic reserve. No additional tokens will be bought. No federal funds being deployed also goes for the multiple-crypto stash to be held alongside. What's already in the US crypto vault had fallen into state ownership as a result of ...