U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoiled the dreams of Bitcoiners worldwide on Thursday. Speaking on Fox Business, he stated bluntly:
“We’re not going to be buying that.”
Bessent confirmed the federal government will not purchase additional Bitcoin to supplement its holdings.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
The Treasury Secretary did endorse the idea of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve. President Donald Trump created the reserve by executive order in March.
The reserve is built from Bitcoin seized by U.S. law enforcement. Bessent said it will only grow through future seizures, not open-market purchases.
“We are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,” he said. “We’re going to stop selling that.”
He estimated U.S. government holdings at $15 billion to $20 billion at today’s prices.
For context, the plan was introduced as a digital equivalent of Fort Knox. It signaled Washington’s support for blockchain and crypto as strategic assets. But expansion will be slow, and strictly limited to seizures.
(See also: The New Age of Financial Revolution)
No New Buys
The announcement ends speculation that the Treasury might actively buy Bitcoin on the open market. For many in the crypto space, this was seen as the next logical step to legitimize digital assets as a strategic reserve.
Instead, Bessent made it clear: the government will hold what it seizes, nothing more.
Another Executive Order: Space Launches
On the same day, President Trump signed another executive order. This one targeted the commercial space industry.
Titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry,” the order seeks to relax environmental rules for rocket launches.
Trump said it is “imperative to national security” that private space companies increase launches “substantially” by 2030.
That could allow firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin to bypass some reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, whose agency oversees the FAA, called the move “visionary.”
Bottom Line
The message is clear. The U.S. will not buy Bitcoin to expand its reserve. Growth will come only through seized assets.
And while the government may not be racing into crypto markets, it is pushing other frontiers—from digital reserves to private space launches.