{"id":42357,"date":"2025-08-15T11:16:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=42357"},"modified":"2025-08-15T11:16:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:16:47","slug":"from-no-to-maybe-treasury-secretary-bessent-leaves-bitcoin-option-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=42357","title":{"rendered":"From No To Maybe: Treasury Secretary Bessent Leaves Bitcoin Option Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walked back a line that rattled Bitcoin markets on Thursday, saying the Treasury is still looking at ways to add to a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve without raising taxpayer costs.<\/p>\n<p>He had earlier told Fox Business that \u201cwe\u2019re not going to be buying that,\u201d but later posted on social media that the department is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2025-08-14\/bessent-says-no-but-maybe-later-to-fresh-bitcoin-buying\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cexploring budget-neutral pathways\u201d<\/a> to acquire more Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<h2>Bessent\u2019s Clarification And The Reserve<\/h2>\n<p>According to his public remarks, the reserve will be built first from crypto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/03\/07\/trump-crypto-reserve-bitcoin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">forfeited<\/a> to the government, and any extra purchases would be structured so they don\u2019t increase the federal budget.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bitcoin that has been finally forfeited to the federal government will be the foundation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that President Trump established in his March Executive Order.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Treasury is committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways to acquire more\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecScottBessent\/status\/1956080030137626887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Yet traders read his line differently at first, and the market moved fast. Reports show <a href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/currencies\/bitcoin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bitcoin<\/a> slid from about $121,100 to $118,950 in a short span, and over $50 billion in market value evaporated within half an hour after the interview.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-557520 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?resize=420%2C420\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=420 420w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=768 768w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=660 660w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=64 64w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=75 75w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=350 350w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=750 750w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generate_image_of_bitcoin_on_fire_in.jpeg?w=1140 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\"><\/p>\n<h2>Market Moves And Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>Short-term reactions were sharp. Prices fell and crypto commentators called out the gap between a firm \u201cno\u201d on buying and a later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/08\/14\/treasury-secretary-clarifies-trump-administrations-crypto-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cwe\u2019re exploring\u201d stance.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Treasury, for its part, also confirmed it will stop selling existing Bitcoin holdings and that the reserve is valued in a range Bessent put at between $15 billion and $20 billion.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox, \u201cWe are not going to be buying,\u201d referring to crypto reserves, and will instead use seized assets. He has also stated that the value of Bitcoin reserves is about $15 billion to $20 billion, and that the\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WuBlockchain\/status\/1955995183277072715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Background On The Strategy<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 6 establishing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Strategic Bitcoin Reserve<\/a> and a broader Digital Asset Stockpile, which set the policy framework for using seized crypto as a base for the reserve.<\/p>\n<p>That order also allowed for \u201cbudget-neutral\u201d methods to add holdings, which is what Bessent referenced when he mentioned alternate funding ideas like reallocations or the use of forfeited assets.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tradingview.com\/x\/PqzfUBIg\/\" width=\"2315\" height=\"1113\"><\/p>\n<p>Who Holds What Now<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s still confusion about how much Bitcoin the US government actually controls across different agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Public trackers estimate at least 198,000 Bitcoin valued in the low-$20 billion range are spread across federal agencies, though some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foia.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">FOIA<\/a> responses and reports have shown smaller, agency-specific totals.<\/p>\n<p>If Treasury names a specific, budget-neutral funding route \u2014 or if Congress acts on bills that would clear a path \u2014 markets will likely take that as a clear signal and react again.<\/p>\n<p>For now, investors and policy watchers are left parsing wording. Exploration without a firm plan keeps uncertainty high, and in crypto that can mean quick price swings.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, Bitcoin was <a href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/currencies\/bitcoin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">trading at $118,872<\/a>, down 2.4% in the last 24 hours, data from CoinMarketCap shows.<\/p>\n<p><em>Featured image from Drive, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walked back a line that rattled Bitcoin markets on Thursday, saying the Treasury is still looking at ways to add to a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve without raising taxpayer costs. He had earlier told Fox Business that \u201cwe\u2019re not going to be buying that,\u201d but later posted on social media that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-42357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}