Government can’t ‘bail out Bitcoin’, says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, amid price slide

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers on Wednesday that the government lacked the authority to “bail out Bitcoin”, as he faced pointed questioning over the administration’s approach to crypto.

In a fiery exchange, Bessent was asked by crypto skeptic and Democratic senator Brad Sherman if he could “instruct the banks of this country” to “bail out Bitcoin” or use taxpayers’ money to invest in “Bitcoin or Trumpcoin”.

“I am Secretary of the Treasury, I do not have the authority to do that, and as chair of [Financial Stability Oversight Council], I do not have that authority,” responded a confused Bessent after asking for clarification.

Sherman continued to press Bessent on whether the government would spend taxpayer money on crypto, leading the Treasury Secretary to defend the administration’s strategic crypto stockpile.

“I’m now asking about the money of our taxpayers — which you manage as Secretary of the Treasury — is it going to be deployed into crypto assets?” Sherman asked.

Bessent confirmed during the hearing that the seized Bitcoin had gone up in value. “Of that $1 billion in Bitcoin that was seized, $500 million was retained, and that $500 million has become over $15 billion,” he said.

Trump’s business ventures

Sherman, like other Democrats have done in the past, was highlighting President Trump’s controversial crypto ventures.

US President Donald Trump has attracted ire from Democrats after last year signing a number of crypto-friendly executive orders — including the establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve.

But the US government is not buying more Bitcoin — at least for now — and the strategic reserve contains crypto confiscated mostly from crimes. Some pro-crypto US lawmakers want the government to buy Bitcoin.

The president has been involved in a number of digital asset business moves, including debuting a meme coin, TRUMP, the day before his inauguration and backing a decentralised finance project, World Liberty Financial.

Lawmakers have criticised the business ventures, alleging the president’s crypto dealings are corrupt. “Donald Trump has turned the Oval Office into the world’s most corrupt crypto startup operation, minting staggering personal fortunes for him and his family in less than a year,” Democratic Representative for Maryland Jamie Raskin alleged in a report last year.

Later on Wednesday, Democrat Gregory Meeks of New York grilled Bessent on a Abu Dhabi royal’s investment in World Liberty Financial, as reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. Bessent and Meeks then proceeded to shout over each other.

“Stop covering for the president — stop being his flunky,” Meeks shouted.

The WSJ said in its reporting that the Trump Administration agreed to give the UAE access to American-made AI chips.

World Liberty Financial has attracted more negative press lately following complaints from investors over millions of dollars in tokens they are unable to trade.

Mathew Di Salvo is a news correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.