Bitcoin faces a brutal irony as the Treasury refuses to save BTC from its own political success
Treasury Secretary Bessent confirmed he lacks authority to use taxpayer money to directly buy Bitcoin, highlighting irony as crypto now relies on the system it sought to replace.Summary
During a Senate hearing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated he has no authority to use taxpayer funds to directly purchase Bitcoin to support its price, a question prompted by Bitcoin's increasing proximity to political interests under the Trump administration. This situation presents a 'brutal irony' because Bitcoin was created in 2009 specifically to avoid government bailouts and centralized control.
The concept of a 'bailout' for crypto involves three actions: direct price support (which Bessent rejected), liquidity backstops for intermediaries, or stabilizing adjacent markets. While direct support is legally barred, the latter two scenarios are more plausible. The US government already holds seized Bitcoin, but this is passive forfeiture, distinct from active market intervention.
The most likely actual intervention would be implicit: protecting the 'plumbing' Bitcoin now relies on. This includes stabilizing Treasury markets if stablecoin runs force mass liquidation of T-bills, or providing emergency liquidity to systemically important financial institutions facilitating crypto trading under the Fed's existing authority. Furthermore, regulatory adjustments could act as a 'bailout by regulation.' Ultimately, Bitcoin's evolution means that if a crisis occurs, the government will intervene to save the regulated institutions and dollar infrastructure crypto now depends on, not the decentralized protocol itself.
(Source：CryptoSlate)