Bitcoin Price Slumps as U.S. Treasury Secretary Rules Out New BTC Purchases for Strategic Reserve

U.S. Government Confirms It Will Not Buy More Bitcoin for Strategic Reserve

Bitcoin’s historic rally hit a sudden speed bump Thursday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the federal government has no plans to acquire additional Bitcoin for its recently announced Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

The statement, delivered during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market, wiping billions from Bitcoin’s market capitalization in a matter of hours.

At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $117,763, down from its record-breaking all-time high of $124,128 set just 24 hours earlier, according to CoinGecko data.

Bessent: No New BTC Buys, Only Confiscated Assets

In his interview, Bessent described the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as a way for the United States to “start moving into the 21st century” in terms of asset diversification. However, he firmly ruled out any government-funded Bitcoin purchases.

“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,” — Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary

According to Bessent, the U.S. currently holds between $15 billion and $20 billion worth of Bitcoin, based on present market prices. These holdings consist entirely of Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases. Future seizures could increase the government’s stash, but no direct market purchases will be made.

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