Bitcoin News Today: U.S. Treasury Clarifies Bitcoin Buy Strategy After Market Sell-Off

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Thursday, Aug 14, 2025 9:12 pm ET1min read
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Aime RobotAime Summary

- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified the Treasury remains exploring budget-neutral Bitcoin purchases for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, reversing earlier remarks that triggered a $55B market sell-off.

- The reserve will prioritize forfeited criminal Bitcoin under March’s executive order, aiming to position the U.S. as the “Bitcoin superpower” without taxpayer costs.

- Critics like Braiins CEO Eli Nagar and Bitcoin adviser Max Keiser mocked delays in implementation, warning of lost global competitiveness due to lack of concrete action.

- Congressional approval for budget-neutral strategies remains pending, with Senator Cynthia Lummis urging review of her BITCOIN Act to facilitate purchases.

- The Treasury confirmed no plans to sell its $15-20B Bitcoin holdings, aligning with BitBo’s $23.5B valuation, but market skepticism persists over implementation timelines.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, clarified on X that the Treasury is still exploring budget-neutral methods to purchase

Bitcoin
for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, following earlier remarks that sparked a sharp sell-off in the cryptocurrency market [1]. His earlier comments to FOX Business had been widely interpreted to suggest the Treasury was not pursuing further Bitcoin purchases, leading to a nearly $55 billion drop in Bitcoin’s market cap within 40 minutes, according to CoinGecko [1].

Bessent emphasized that the Treasury remains committed to acquiring more Bitcoin without imposing additional costs on U.S. taxpayers. The reserve is expected to be built primarily from Bitcoin forfeited in criminal cases, as outlined in the March 6 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a

Digital Asset
Stockpile [1]. Bessent reiterated the administration’s goal of positioning the U.S. as the “Bitcoin superpower of the world” [1].

Bitcoin’s price dipped from $121,073 to $118,886 in response to Bessent’s initial remarks, though it later recovered slightly to $118,500. Despite the clarification, market participants expressed skepticism about the lack of progress in implementing budget-neutral acquisition strategies [1]. Eli Nagar, CEO of Bitcoin mining firm Braiins, criticized the Treasury for what he described as excessive “exploring” without tangible action [1]. Max Keiser, a Bitcoin adviser, similarly mocked the phrasing, suggesting the delays could allow other nations to outpace the U.S. in Bitcoin development [1].

The Treasury has yet to detail how the budget-neutral strategies—such as reevaluating gold certificates or tariff revenue—might be executed. The Digital Asset Working Group’s recent report provided no new developments in this area, raising further questions about the timeline for implementation [1]. One challenge appears to be the requirement for congressional approval for any budget-neutral Bitcoin purchases. U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has urged Congress to review the BITCOIN Act she introduced in March to facilitate such acquisitions [1].

Bessent also confirmed that the Treasury has no plans to sell its existing Bitcoin holdings, estimating the reserve’s value to be between $15 billion and $20 billion [1]. This aligns with data from BitBo’s Bitcoin Treasuries dashboard, which places the U.S. holdings at $23.5 billion [1]. The lack of concrete action, however, continues to raise concerns among market participants about the U.S.’s ability to maintain a competitive edge in the global Bitcoin landscape [1].

Source: [1] US Treasury Bessent Says Budget-Neutral Bitcoin Reserve (https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-treasury-still-exploring-budget-neutral-bitcoin-buys-secretary-says)

[2] Bessent Backtracks on Bitcoin: Treasury Committed to 'Budget (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bessent-backtracks-bitcoin-treasury-committed-201757732.html)