US Rules Out Direct Bitcoin Purchases for Strategic Reserve, Sparking Debate

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has confirmed that the United States will not purchase Bitcoin (BTC) on the open market to build its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). Instead, the reserve will rely exclusively on assets obtained through legal seizures, a move critics say could slow the reserve’s growth and limit America’s ability to compete in the global digital asset race.

Lummis Proposes Gold Revaluation to Fund Reserve Expansion

Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, a long-time advocate for Bitcoin, is pushing an alternative plan through her proposed BITCOIN Act. The legislation would revalue the nation’s gold reserves to current market prices and use the increase in paper value to expand the SBR—without adding to the federal debt.

“Scott Bessent is right: a budget-neutral path to building SBR is the way. We cannot save our country from $37 trillion debt by purchasing more Bitcoin, but we can revalue gold reserves to today’s prices and transfer the increase in value to build SBR. America needs the BITCOIN Act,” Lummis said in a statement.

Her comments came in direct response to Bessent’s position, announced after President Trump’s March executive order creating the SBR. Bessent said the Treasury is committed to budget-neutral methods of expanding the reserve, emphasizing the President’s goal of making the United States “the Bitcoin superpower of the world.”

Seizure-Only Strategy Faces Bottlenecks

While the federal government holds billions in seized Bitcoin, blockchain data indicates that only around 15% of these assets have been legally forfeited. The remainder could still be tied up in court cases, creditor disputes, or returned to private owners. Until these issues are resolved, the coins cannot be transferred to the reserve.

This legal bottleneck creates a growth constraint for the SBR, despite significant BTC already in federal custody.

Potential First in US Monetary History

Lummis’ gold revaluation plan aims to bypass these hurdles entirely. By updating the official valuation of US gold reserves, the Treasury could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in surplus value. That value could then be transferred into Bitcoin without raising taxes, cutting spending, or increasing borrowing.

The senator has expressed interest in working with Treasury Secretary Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify additional budget-neutral strategies. If enacted, the BITCOIN Act would mark the first time in modern US history that gold revaluation funded a strategic cryptocurrency reserve—a symbolic and financial shift that could redefine America’s role in the global Bitcoin landscape.