Bessent framed the strategy as a “budget-neutral expansion” of the government’s Bitcoin reserves, aligning with President Donald Trump’s push to treat the token as a strategic asset on par with gold and oil. He noted that coins already confiscated in cases such as Silk Road and Bitfinex will remain under federal custody.
“We are not going to buy Bitcoin,” Bessent said. “We will use confiscated assets to build reserves and stop selling coins in government possession.”
Analysts at Bitcoin data site Bitbo estimated that by December 2024 U.S. authorities may have controlled as much as 198,012 BTC — worth about $23.6 billion at today’s prices. Yet the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) reports a much smaller figure of 28,988 BTC currently held, well below earlier projections.