U.S. Treasury Secretary Says Government Holding Up to $20,000,000,000 in Bitcoin Reserves, Outlines Plans To Grow the BTC Stash

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the government is currently holding billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, but has no immediate plans to purchase more BTC.

In a new interview with Fox Business, Bessent says the US is holding up to $20 billion worth of Bitcoin that it will not be selling.

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He also says that the government will add any BTC that’s confiscated in the future to its stash. However, Bessent says the US government will not be buying more of the flagship crypto asset to add to the stockpile.

“We’ve also started, to get into the 21st century, a Bitcoin strategic reserve. We’re not going to be buying that, but we are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up. We’re going to stop selling that. I believe that Bitcoin reserve at today’s prices is somewhere between $15 and $20 billion.”

According to data from the market intelligence firm Arkham, the Federal government currently holds 198,000 Bitcoin worth about $23.4 billion.

Bessant also says the government plans to continue holding its gold reserve as is.

We’ve got the large gold holding. I doubt we’re going to revalue it, but we are going to keep it there as a store of value for the American people.”

In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a strategic Bitcoin and crypto reserve. The order established a national BTC and crypto asset stockpile by holding on to digital assets seized from criminal activities rather than auctioning them off as had been the previous practice.

At the time, the Trump administration’s crypto czar and venture capitalist, David Sacks said that the government could be allowed to purchase more Bitcoin to add to its strategic reserve if certain budgetary conditions are met.

“I’m talking about Treasury and Commerce – they’re allowed to figure out strategies to accumulate more Bitcoin for the reserve if those strategies are budget neutral and don’t cost the taxpayer anything.

So it’s possible that we could, I’m not saying that we will, but it authorizes them to acquire more Bitcoin if they can figure out a way to do it that doesn’t impact the federal budget or the deficit or taxpayers.”