In a recent interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared that the US will not purchase any Bitcoin for its Strategic Reserve. Instead, the federal government plans to fill it only with assets from legal seizures.
Bessent suggested that this reserve could contain between 15 and 20 billion USD, but this is an excessive simplification. The Bitfinex refunds alone have dropped to 12.5 billion USD, and other complications may arise.
The Paradox of the US Bitcoin Reserve
In recent months, discussions about the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve have attracted attention from US crypto policies, but there have been few specific developments. Individual states have promoted local initiatives, but federal plans seem to be frozen.
However, today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had an interview describing the vision:
"We have also started, to enter the 21st century, a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve. We will not buy it, but we will use seized assets and continue to build it. I believe a Bitcoin Reserve, at current prices, is in the range of 15 to 20 billion USD," Bessent stated.
This is a bold plan, but potentially messy. On-chain data from Arkham clearly shows that US government wallets contain 23.6 billion USD in bitcoin, but not all are eligible for the Strategic Reserve.
Last month, a scandal erupted revealing that the government may only own 15% of the deposited tokens. This raised concerns about a secret sale.
Explanation of Asset Seizure
Although rumored, no sale has occurred, but this fact could complicate the US Bitcoin Reserve plan.
Essentially, law enforcement agencies seize many temporary assets. This does not make them government property, regardless of blockchain data.
The US is custodying around 11.1 billion USD BTC from the Bitfinex hack, but will return it to creditors by mid-2026. This still leaves over 12.5 billion USD for the reserve plan, which is good, but significantly less than Bessent's optimistic vision.
Moreover, the federal government may need to return more assets using similar mechanisms.
Some federal agencies, like CBP, are increasing efforts to perform civil seizures of seized tokens, but this is a piecemeal process.
When agencies use this bureaucratic mechanism, these assets will become government property, legally qualifying to fit the US Bitcoin Reserve.
Bessent's comments suggest that this issue is not yet fully understood. Currently, there is no evidence of such a coordinated plan, and we do not know how much BTC might be returned to creditors.
If the Treasury wants to use only seized assets, all relevant agencies will need to conduct large-scale civil seizures. This would also have its own issues, especially if legal owners contest the process.
However, these are the US options: buy Bitcoin, increase asset seizures, or operate a small Strategic Reserve.
