• In a Fox Business appearance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government does not plan to buy Bitcoin for a national reserve.

  • Bitcoin slipped below $120,000 after the comments. Earlier in the morning the benchmark crypto notched a fresh all-time high; at the time of writing it trades near $118,000.

  • “We’ve started to enter the 21st century and build a Bitcoin reserve. We won’t buy it, but we will use seized assets and continue to build,” Bessent said.

  • He also confirmed the U.S. does not intend to sell its BTC holdings. By his estimate, the reserve is currently worth $15–20 billion at prevailing prices.

  • The statement contradicts an earlier directive from President Donald Trump instructing the administration to develop “budget-neutral strategies” to increase federal Bitcoin holdings.

  • Back in April, Bo Hines—then on the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets—said the government was exploring funding options for acquiring Bitcoin, including tariff revenues and a revaluation of Treasury gold certificates.

  • Asked whether the U.S. would revalue its 261.5 million ounces of gold—carried at the official $42.22/oz set in 1973 (≈ $11B) vs. roughly $750B at market prices—Bessent expressed doubts. He added the gold would also be retained as a store of value.

  • Beyond headlines, hotter-than-expected U.S. producer prices added to crypto selling pressure: PPI rose 3.3% YoY in July (vs. 2.5% expected and 2.4% revised in June), the highest annual increase since February. MoM PPI +0.9% marked the strongest monthly gain since June 2022.