A morning soundbite from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent briefly rattled Bitcoin and crypto markets on Thursday before a late-day clarification restored the policy baseline: the United States won\u2019t be sellers, and \u201cbudget-neutral\u201d options to grow the country\u2019s bitcoin stockpile remain on the table. Senator Cynthia Lummis swiftly framed the endpoint. \u201cAmerica needs the BITCOIN Act,\u201d she wrote, calling the legislation the operative blueprint for expanding a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve without tapping taxpayers.<\/p>\n
In a Fox Business hit that ricocheted across X, Bessent said<\/a> the government is \u201cnot going to be buying\u201d additional bitcoin and added, \u201cWe\u2019re going to stop selling that,\u201d referencing a reserve he valued between $15 billion and $20 billion. Markets faded into the statement; by mid-day, bitcoin was off roughly 3.7%. The point that stuck\u2014\u201cwe\u2019re not going to be buying\u201d\u2014was clipped and shared widely, but it was only half the story.<\/p>\n Hours later, Bessent posted a clarifying note. \u201cBitcoin that has been finally forfeited to the federal government will be the foundation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that President Trump established in his March Executive Order<\/a>,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn addition, Treasury is committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways to acquire more Bitcoin to expand the reserve, and to execute on the President\u2019s promise to make the United States the \u2018Bitcoin superpower of the world.\u2019\u201d The course correction aligned his comments with the administration\u2019s March directive and the policy discussion that has matured since.<\/p>\n Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, seized<\/a> the moment to underline the fiscal constraint. \u201cSecretary Scott Bessent is right: a budget-neutral path to building SBR is the way. We cannot save our country from $37T debt by purchasing more bitcoin, but we can revalue gold reserves to today\u2019s prices & transfer the increase in value to build SBR. America needs the BITCOIN Act.\u201d In a separate reply to Bessent, she added: \u201cI have a \u20bfill for that.\u201d<\/p>\nBitcoin Act Is Still The Way Forward<\/h2>\n