“We’ll Talk About the Way Forward”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent comments on the U.S.’s Bitcoin reserve acquisition strategy.

On Thursday, March 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a U.S. Bitcoin reserve from assets it holds from seizures.

At the same time, the order authorized the Treasury Secretary and Secretary of Commerce to add to the reserve using “budget neutral strategies” that come at no additional cost to taxpayers.

The billion-dollar question that has followed this order is what the Trump administration means by “budget neutral strategies.” 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked this on CNBC Television on Friday, March 7. Bessent’s answer, however, suggested that this was something even the Trump administration had yet to fully figure out.

“I’m going back to Washington this afternoon, and then we’ll talk about the way forward,” Bessent asserted, referring to Trump’s planned White House crypto summit.

The summit is set to see attendance from heads of relevant state departments, regulatory agencies and crypto industry leaders. Out of the lineup, the most consequential attendee regarding the U.S.’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy could be Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor.

In less than three years, the Bitcoin evangelist has spearheaded a Bitcoin treasury strategy at the company that has seen it acquire nearly 500,000 BTC worth $44.5 billion. The company has done so mainly using bonds with 0% interest.

Nonetheless, speaking with CNBC on Friday, Secretary Bessent suggested that Trump’s executive order had already achieved one thing: setting in motion steps to prevent further selling of the U.S. stockpile. 

“The first thing to do is to stop the selling. So we are going to, after the victims are paid, and all of that,” he stressed.