Bessent confirms over 200,000 seized BTC will be held in a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve managed by the Federal Reserve, marking a permanent policy shift in asset retention.
On January 21, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the government will cease selling seized digital assets and instead place over 200,000 BTC into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. These assets, largely from forfeitures, will be permanently held by the Federal Reserve unless extreme emergencies arise. The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order designating Bitcoin as a strategic asset, reversing prior policies of auctioning confiscated Bitcoin and signaling a long-term commitment to integrating BTC into national reserves.