US Treasury Sec says no BTC buys for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed a disappointing quantity of US government bitcoin (BTC) holdings this morning, putting the number at “$15 to $20 billion” — some way short of prior estimates exceeding $23 billion.
He also said the US government is probably not going to purchase more BTC for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), dashing hopes of millions of investors.
Bessent dropped the bombshell in response to a question from Fox TV about the Treasury’s statutory book value of gold holdings at $42.22 per ounce.
News anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Bessent if he was considering revaluing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of gold. Bessent immediately deflected that question and then tried to praise the country’s SBR as an alternative store of value.
Unfortunately, he failed to instill any confidence in the crypto community, and within a few seconds, rattled off several breaking headlines.
First, he estimated the value of US government BTC holdings in the SBR at $15-20 billion — a disappointing figure, way below third-party estimates.
Second, he clarified that he doesn’t anticipate the US government selling or revaluing gold to buy more BTC, dashing the hopes of numerous lobbyists.
Ideas about how to use the Exchange Stabilization Fund or other tactics to funnel money from US gold holdings into BTC purchases have circulated for months.
Unfortunately, Bessent denied those plans as of this morning’s announcement.
Read more: Bitcoin Policy Institute pitches US strategic bitcoin reserve
Third, Bessent said that he’s not even aware of any government plan to purchase more BTC. Instead, he merely reiterated prior promises to not sell civil and criminal BTC seizures that are surrendered into US government control.
Overall, the news is a disappointing outcome for BTC investors and many lobbyists who had hoped to convince Bessent to consider a plan to use budget-neutral funds to acquire additional BTC.
Although Donald Trump signed an executive order forcing him to consider such plans, Bessent seems to have considered them and declined for now.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.