Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advised lawmakers on Wednesday that the US will retain bitcoin obtained by means of asset seizures, however gained’t intervene to help the market by directing personal banks to purchase extra.
The trade got here throughout a tense back-and-forth with California Rep. Brad Sherman, a longtime bitcoin critic.
No authority to direct financial institution shopping for
Sherman requested whether or not the Treasury Division or the Federal Open Market Committee has the authority to “bail out” bitcoin.
He additionally pressed Bessent on whether or not he would change financial institution reserve necessities to encourage purchases of BTC or “Trump Coin,” referring to memecoins tied to President Donald Trump.
Bessent mentioned:
“I’m Secretary of the Treasury. I should not have the authority to do this, and as chair of the Monetary Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), I should not have that authority.”
Seized bitcoin holdings grew in custody
Bessent added that roughly $500 million in seized bitcoin held by the US authorities rose to greater than $15 billion whereas in custody.
The feedback have been the newest replace tied to the US authorities’s bitcoin stockpile, tracked alongside different sovereign holdings.
Strategic reserve guidelines restrict new purchases
The bitcoin strategic reserve was established by government order in March 2025.
The order stipulated that further BTC might solely be acquired by means of asset forfeiture or “budget-neutral” methods.
Price range-neutral approaches embody changing current reserve belongings—comparable to petroleum or valuable metals—into bitcoin.
In August 2025, Bessent mentioned the Treasury Division was exploring buying bitcoin by means of budget-neutral strategies, a shift from earlier feedback.