📅 February 4 - Washington D.C. | US politics and the crypto world clashed again… and this time they did so loudly. In a tense congressional hearing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sharply questioned by Democratic lawmakers about the links between World Liberty Financial, a crypto project associated with Donald Trump, and foreign capital from the United Arab Emirates.
📖The hearing took place on Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee, as part of a review by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the body responsible for monitoring systemic risks and chaired by Bessent himself.
What wasn't on the formal agenda was the intense political scrutiny that was about to unfold.
Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, was the one who lit the fuse. Meeks harshly criticized World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto and decentralized finance project linked to Trump's circle, pointing to its connections with the United Arab Emirates.
The controversy intensified after a report by The Wall Street Journal, which revealed that an investment vehicle backed by Emirati Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan secretly acquired 49% of World Liberty Financial for $500 million, just days before Trump's inauguration.
Although Trump publicly denied knowing about that investment, the timing and magnitude of the deal raised alarms in Congress. The situation worsens because World Liberty Financial is seeking a banking license and recently submitted a formal application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
For Meeks, the risk is clear: a crypto project linked to the president, with significant foreign capital, attempting to access the U.S. banking system.
The lawmaker demanded that Bessent pause any regulatory progress related to WLFI until potential conflicts of interest are investigated. The secretary's response was technical, but insufficient to calm the situation.
Bessent clarified that the OCC is an independent agency, but avoided committing to launching a direct investigation. The exchange quickly escalated, with both speaking simultaneously, until Meeks launched a direct accusation: he asked the secretary to “stop covering for the president.”
The hearing didn't stop there. The focus then shifted to Bitcoin and the Treasury's role in an increasingly politicized landscape. Congressman Brad Sherman, a California Democrat and longtime critic of cryptocurrencies, bluntly asked if Bessent had the authority to “bail out Bitcoin”, force banks to buy it, or invest taxpayer money in Bitcoin or even the so-called Trump coin.
The answer was unequivocal. Bessent stated that he has no authority to do so, neither as Secretary of the Treasury nor as Chairman of the FSOC.
He clarified that the Treasury's current role is limited to holding bitcoins seized in civil or criminal proceedings, in accordance with the executive order signed by Trump in March 2025, which established a strategic bitcoin reserve composed solely of confiscated assets, which cannot be sold.
Topic Opinion:
The Treasury is trying to distance itself, but the market understands that when cryptocurrencies enter the political arena, the rules change. There will be no state "bailout" for Bitcoin, but neither will there be absolute neutrality when interests intersect so significantly.
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