U.S. Treasury Secretary Sets Tone for Bitcoin Reserve Strategy: Only Hold, No Sale, Relying on Enforcement Seizures

On January 8, it was reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in an interview with Fox Business that the U.S. government has clarified its official Bitcoin reserve strategy.

Bessent emphasized that although the U.S. government has established a strategic Bitcoin reserve, it will not actively purchase coins on the open market. The only source of this reserve is Bitcoin confiscated through government enforcement actions. She also mentioned that for these seized assets, the government's future policy will be “hold only, do not sell.”

Market opinion holds that Bessent’s remarks directly respond to criticisms from Senate members such as Cynthia Lummis, who previously criticized the Department of Justice for selling confiscated Bitcoin.

Overall, Bessent’s statement not only addresses congressional controversy but also clearly delineates the U.S. government’s boundaries in the Bitcoin space. That is, it will not actively buy on the open market, but will expand its strategic reserve through enforcement seizures, classifying it as a strategic asset rather than a liquid asset.

This approach avoids the political and financial risks of using public funds to directly purchase coins in the market, and by “nationalizing” the confiscated BTC, it gradually accumulates a new type of non-sovereign strategic asset to prepare for potential future changes in the financial landscape.

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