U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified in a Fox News interview on August 14 that the U.S. will not be buying Bitcoin for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
U.S. Bitcoin Reserve Won’t Be Bought, Scott Bessent Says
Speaking with Fox News reporter Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, Bessent revealed that while the U.S. has its eyes on a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve “to get into the 21st century,” it will not be purchasing the cryptocurrency outright.
“We’re not going to be buying that, but we are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,” Bessent said. “We’re going to stop selling that.”
“I believe that the Bitcoin Reserve at today’s prices is somewhere between $15 and $20 billion,” he added.
Bitcoin Dips Despite Reaching New Heights
Bessent’s latest commentary may be seen as a marked disappointment for pro-Bitcoin proponents who hoped the U.S. government would buy additional Bitcoin.
Despite hitting an all-time high of over $124,000 on Thursday, Bitcoin’s value dropped to just $117,000 by the time of publication.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who widely campaigned on enacting crypto-friendly regulations, signed off on at least two federal directives pertaining to the matter.
In January, Trump signed an executive order that established a working group with, in part, the goal of establishing a national stockpile of cryptocurrency.
In March, Trump signed an additional executive order that effectively established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve “capitalized with bitcoin owned by the Department of Treasury that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceeding.”
“The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime,” White House A.I. and Crypto Czar David Sacks said in a statement at the time.
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