Briefly
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned Thursday that the U.S. authorities won’t be shopping for extra Bitcoin to complement reserves of the token acquired through legislation enforcement seizures.
- For months, White Home officers had stoked the hopes of Bitcoiners by saying they wished to amass as a lot of the cryptocurrency “as potential.”
- However the identical officers mentioned they’d in the end defer to the Treasury Secretary on whether or not such purchases may and must be made in a “budget-neutral” approach.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoiled the goals of Bitcoiners worldwide Thursday, stating outright that the federal authorities won’t be buying extra Bitcoin to complement its present provide of the cryptocurrency.
“We’re not going to be shopping for that,” Bessent mentioned throughout a Thursday morning look on Fox Enterprise.
The Treasury Secretary did endorse the notion of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, which President Donald Trump established through a March govt order. However Bessent mentioned such a reserve, which at present consists of Bitcoin seized by U.S. legislation enforcement,will solely be grown sooner or later by related seizures.
“We’re going to use confiscated belongings and proceed to construct that up,” Bessent mentioned of the Bitcoin reserve. “We’re going to cease promoting that.”
The Treasury Secretary added he estimates the U.S. authorities’s present Bitcoin holdings to equal between $15 billion to $20 billion in worth at present costs.
Bessent’s feedback mark a departure from earlier statements by White Home officers on the topic.
For months, Trump officers have floated the opportunity of the federal authorities buying extra Bitcoin. The prospect has thrilled many Bitcoin holders, each as a result of legitimacy such acquisitions may grant the cryptocurrency, and the potential deflationary impression huge state-level purchases of the token may have on its worth.
In March, shortly after Trump established a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve, White Home AI and crypto czar David Sacks advised Decrypt that Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would have the remaining say on figuring out whether or not to buy extra Bitcoin through “budget-neutral” strategies, similar to promoting off different authorities reserve belongings together with gold.
For months, White Home officers have since repeated the line that they need to “purchase as a lot Bitcoin as potential.”
However plans for such acquisitions by no means materialized within the months because the Bitcoin reserve’s announcement. Late final month, the White Home launched a sprawling, 168-page report on crypto coverage suggestions. Although it was supposed to incorporate additional details about the Trump administration’s crypto reserve plans, it notably omitted any particulars on the topic.
One of the vital constantly vocal White Home officers with regards to buying Bitcoin was Bo Hines, govt director of the President’s Working Group on Digital Belongings.
Since March Hines has repeatedly mentioned, in personal and in public, that the Trump administration wished to amass as a lot Bitcoin because it presumably may.“I’ve mentioned that at each convention I’ve spoken at within the final two to a few months,” Hines mentioned throughout testimony earlier than the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in June.
Earlier this week, Hines introduced he had left his White Home position, efficient instantly.
UPDATE (August 14, 2025, 11:03 a.m. ET): Provides paragraphs about Hines.
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