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The US government is sitting on a massive Bitcoin stash — valued in the billions — but won’t be adding to it through purchases anytime soon. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed in an interview with Fox Business that the federal reserve of BTC now stands somewhere between $15 billion and $20 billion at current prices, with no intention to sell it off.
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Bessent described the Bitcoin holdings as part of a broader effort to modernize federal reserves:
“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.”
The government will keep any BTC seized through law enforcement actions, ending the previous practice of auctioning it off. While it’s not actively buying Bitcoin, officials plan to add any future confiscations directly to the reserve.
Bessent also confirmed that the US will maintain its gold reserves as they are. He said:
“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.”
This positions Bitcoin alongside gold in the nation’s store of value strategy, though the two assets will be managed differently.
The strategic Bitcoin reserve was introduced in March when President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the government to retain digital assets seized from criminal activity. This marked a sharp break from years of selling confiscated crypto at auction.
David Sacks, the administration’s crypto policy lead at the time, explained that the order also gives the Treasury and Commerce Departments room to consider expanding the reserve — but only under certain conditions. He noted:
“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.”
For now, the message from Bessent is clear: the US will keep what it has, grow it through confiscations, and hold it for the long term.