U.S. Treasury Secretary Excludes the Possibility of Government 'Bailout' for Bitcoin; Seized Bitcoin Has Appreciated to $15 Billion
Recently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated at a congressional hearing that he has explicitly ruled out the possibility of the federal government 'bailing out' Bitcoin during market downturns.
He emphasized that neither the Treasury Department nor the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has the authority to require private banks to support Bitcoin's price by purchasing more of it.
This statement strongly counters previous market speculation about potential government intervention in cryptocurrency prices, thereby establishing the U.S. government's firm 'no bailout' principle amidst Bitcoin market volatility.
Meanwhile, Bessent revealed that the value of Bitcoin seized by the U.S. government through law enforcement actions has skyrocketed from an initial approximately $500 million to over $15 billion, clearly demonstrating that the government's held crypto assets have realized significant appreciation during market cycles.
He further explained that based on the presidential executive order signed by Trump in March 2025, which delineated the policy red line, the government’s ability to directly use funds to intervene in the market has been restricted.
Against this backdrop, the legitimate avenues for the government to increase its strategic cryptocurrency reserves are strictly limited to two methods: one is through asset seizure; the other is implementing a budget-neutral substitution strategy (i.e., using national reserves of oil or precious metals) to exchange for Bitcoin.
However, this policy framework has sparked vastly different reactions within the Bitcoin community. Critics point out that relying on the passive accumulation model of seizure and substitution lacks sufficient force to provide strong official endorsement for the market, unlike active purchases.
Conversely, supporters hold the opposing view that the U.S. government’s initiative to actively establish and publicly disclose its Bitcoin strategic reserves has a strong demonstration effect, likely encouraging multiple countries globally to emulate the establishment of their own cryptocurrency reserves.
In the long run, this global official reserve competition is expected to fundamentally reshape the supply and demand relationship for Bitcoin, thereby having a more profound impact on the global demand and price of Bitcoin.
