Bessent says Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is “new ground,” eyes CLARITY Act this summer

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. government is advancing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in a “careful but rapid manner” and urged senators to pass the CLARITY Act this summer to strengthen the digital-asset regulatory framework. Speaking at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Bessent said the reserve effort remains a deliberate but active project as the government builds out an unprecedented policy structure. He also said the government’s holdings are mainly made up of Bitcoin seized by the government. The reserve was established by executive order on March 6, 2025 and is described as holding an estimated 328,372 BTC worth roughly $25 billion, with assets sourced from criminal forfeitures and law-enforcement seizures rather than open-market purchases. The order bars Treasury from selling those holdings and directs it to pursue budget-neutral ways to acquire more, while the proposed BITCOIN Act backed by Sen. Cynthia Lummis would give the reserve a statutory basis and authorize purchases of 200,000 BTC annually over five years. Bessent’s latest comments reinforce the administration’s twin push to build a federal Bitcoin stockpile and secure broader crypto market-structure legislation despite Senate disagreements that have tightened the legislative timeline.