The US government is unlikely to start accumulating Bitcoin for its strategic reserve until other nations make the first move, says crypto entrepreneur Mike Alfred.

Alfred said in a podcast published on Tuesday that the US government will start putting Bitcoin into its reserve created earlier this year “when there is enough pressure externally.” 

“Once the US government recognizes that others are taking action before them, that’ll probably catalyze additional action in the future,” he said, adding that the timeline for the US government’s action is up in the air.

It comes as other industry executives have been pushing for the US government to step up its pace of accumulating Bitcoin to avoid the stockpile’s size falling behind other nations.

Most governments will have Bitcoin when it’s worth $1 million

Alfred said that he was confident that Bitcoin would be worth $1 million a coin by 2033, a more conservative estimate compared to ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who anticipate Bitcoin will be worth seven-figures by as early as 2030.

“I think by the time that happens, almost every government will have some direct or indirect exposure to the asset, and it will be viewed as a common strategic reserve type of asset,” Alfred said.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March directing the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that would use budget-neutral ways to accumulate the cryptocurrency, but the plan has yet to be formally established.

In September, Galaxy Digital analyst Alex Thorn said there was a “strong chance” the US will announce this year that it has formed a Bitcoin reserve and is “formally holding BTC as a strategic asset.”

US government risks being “front-run,” says Bitcoiner

Alfred added that it “seemed impossible that the government would even acknowledge Bitcoin before Trump.”

“I think we’ve made quite a bit of progress in a short period of time,” he said. 

Others are urging the government to move even faster. Jan3 founder Samson Mow told Cointelegraph in June that the US “has to start” acquiring Bitcoin this year or risk being “front-run” by nations such as Pakistan, which are also planning to acquire Bitcoin.