U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was recently the subject of heavy scrutiny from lawmakers during a contentious hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, with intense exchanges over various matters, including the Treasury Department’s role in Bitcoin oversight.
As the price of BTC craters, Bessent has ruled out the possibility of a government bailout for the premier crypto.
“I Do Not Have That Authority”
Bitcoin’s crash to nearly $60,000 on Thursday, a roughly 25% decline over seven days, has even U.S. lawmakers wondering whether the government can direct private banks to buy more BTC during a market downturn.
“Does the Treasury Department or the various components of the Federal Open Market Committee have the authority to bail out Bitcoin?” anti-crypto California Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked Bessent during the hearing.
Sherman then asked Bessent if he intends to order private banks to purchase more BTC or “Trump Coin,” a reference to the memecoin launched last January by US President Donald Trump, by modifying banking reserve requirements to allow them to acquire more.
“I am the Secretary of the Treasury. I do not have the authority to do that, and as chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), I do not have that authority.”
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve, made up of tokens forfeited as part of government criminal or civil asset forfeiture. According to Bessent, the $500 million in confiscated Bitcoin had surged in value to over $15 billion while in custody.
Government Bitcoin Purchases Remain A Possibility
During the hearing, Bessent reiterated that the government remains committed to increasing its Bitcoin holdings in a budget-neutral way without using American taxpayer dollars. However, no major developments were shared on how those strategies may be executed.
Among the budget-neutral strategies previously floated are reevaluating the Treasury’s gold certificates and tariff revenue.
That said, the US government actively buying Bitcoin could create significant demand for the world’s largest cryptocurrency, which may boost its price and likely signal to other nation-states the need to create their own strategic Bitcoin reserves.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/can-the-us-government-bail-out-bitcoin-amid-market-carnage-treasury-secretary-bessent-has-the-answer/
