In short
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated Thursday that the U.S. authorities is not going to be shopping for further Bitcoin to complement reserves of the token acquired through regulation enforcement seizures.
For months, White Home officers had stoked the hopes of Bitcoiners by saying they needed to accumulate as a lot of the cryptocurrency “as potential.”
However the identical officers stated they’d finally defer to the Treasury Secretary on whether or not such purchases may and must be made in a “budget-neutral” method.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoiled the desires of Bitcoiners worldwide Thursday, stating outright that the federal authorities is not going to be buying further Bitcoin to complement its present provide of the cryptocurrency.
“We’re not going to be shopping for that,” Bessent stated 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 stated such a reserve, which presently consists of Bitcoin seized by U.S. regulation enforcement,will solely be grown sooner or later by related seizures.
“We’re going to use confiscated property and proceed to construct that up,” Bessent stated 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 potential of the federal authorities buying further Bitcoin. The prospect has thrilled many Bitcoin holders, each because of the legitimacy such acquisitions may grant the cryptocurrency, and the potential deflationary influence large 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 instructed Decrypt that Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would have the last say on figuring out whether or not to buy further Bitcoin through “budget-neutral” strategies, similar to promoting off different authorities reserve property 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 as regards to buying Bitcoin was Bo Hines, govt director of the President’s Working Group on Digital Property.
Since March Hines has repeatedly stated, in non-public and in public, that the Trump administration needed to accumulate as a lot Bitcoin because it presumably may.“I’ve stated that at each convention I’ve spoken at within the final two to a few months,” Hines stated throughout testimony earlier than the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in June.
Earlier this week, Hines introduced he had left his White Home function, efficient instantly.
UPDATE (August 14, 2025, 11:03 a.m. ET): Provides paragraphs about Hines.
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