The U.S. Department of the Treasury Officially Incorporates Confiscated Bitcoin into the National Strategic Reserve

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20, 2026, that the U.S. government will cease selling confiscated digital assets and will transfer all Bitcoin currently held by the Department of Justice and the Treasury into the "U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve." According to this policy, Bitcoin mainly obtained through criminal and civil asset forfeitures will be kept permanently and will no longer be periodically auctioned by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Bessent stated that this move aims to "stop the loss of sovereign digital wealth" and considers the more than 200,000 Bitcoin currently held by the U.S. as a long-term value reserve on the national balance sheet to hedge against traditional currency fluctuations. Bessent also emphasized that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will expand through law enforcement confiscations in a "budget-neutral" manner, without using taxpayers' funds for open market purchases. The assets will be managed by the Federal Reserve and, unless there is an extreme national economic emergency, will not be sold or transferred.
Analysts believe that this decision signifies that, at the policy level, the U.S. is for the first time elevating Bitcoin to a strategic asset status close to gold, which could weaken the long-standing "government selling pressure" and set a precedent for digital asset policies among major global economies.