U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confused financial markets this week when he made seemingly contradictory statements about whether the government will buy more bitcoin for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
On Thursday morning, Bessent told Fox Business the government wouldn’t be buying more. “We’re not going to be buying that, but we are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,” he said. He added the government would “stop selling” its existing bitcoin.
Many Bitcoin supporters had hoped the U.S. would actually buy more of the digital asset.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — created in March by an executive order from President Donald Trump — holds between $15 billion and $20 billion worth of bitcoin (according to Bessent), most of it seized from criminal activity.
Markets reacted quickly to Bessent’s comments. Within 40 minutes, bitcoin’s price dropped from around $121,000 to below $119,000, erasing nearly $55 billion from its market cap.
The sell-off was exacerbated by a stronger-than-expected U.S. Producer Price Index report, which raised inflation concerns and dampened hopes for a September rate cut.
By the afternoon, Bessent’s message changed. In a post on X, he said the Treasury is still looking for ways to grow the bitcoin reserve without using taxpayer money.
“Treasury is committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways to acquire more Bitcoin to expand the reserve, and to execute on the President’s promise to make the United States the ‘Bitcoin superpower of the world,’” he wrote.
Bessent said seized bitcoin will be the “foundation” of the reserve, but additional purchases could happen if the government finds cost-offsetting strategies.
Those might include, according to previous discussions, revaluing the Treasury’s gold certificates or using tariff revenues — ideas that are still in the works.
Analysts say revaluing gold certificates and using tariff revenues to buy bitcoin is still very much considered buying, although it does so without increasing the federal budget deficit — i.e., without raising new taxes or borrowing more money than already planned.
Related: U.S. to Use Tariffs and Gold Revaluation to Build Bitcoin Reserves
The mixed messages had observers wondering if Bessent had walked back his comments under pressure or if his morning remarks were just misinterpreted. Some in the media noted his “not buying” comment was off the cuff and not a formal policy announcement.
Others say by “buying,” he meant using taxpayers’ money or borrowing more money to do so, which aligns with both his statements.
This isn’t the first time the Treasury has been unclear.
Since Trump signed the executive order in March creating the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — and a Digital Asset Stockpile for other digital assets — officials have said they are looking for “budget-neutral” ways to add to the holdings.
But no plan has been released and the administration’s recent digital asset report didn’t touch on the topic.
Bo Hines, the former head of the White House’s Council of Advisors on Digital Assets and the architect of the bitcoin reserve plan, had advocated for the budget-neutral approach. Hines left his post last week, so there’s currently no one to lead the strategy.
