The U.S. Treasury will officially incorporate Bitcoin into the national strategic reserves

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenet announced during the Davos World Economic Forum that the U.S. government will stop selling seized digital assets and will transfer all bitcoins currently held by the Department of Justice and the Treasury into the "U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve." Under this policy, bitcoins primarily obtained through criminal and civil asset forfeiture will be permanently retained and will no longer be regularly auctioned by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Bessenet stated that this move aims to "stop the loss of sovereign digital wealth" and views the more than 200,000 bitcoins currently held by the U.S. as a long-term value reserve on the national balance sheet to hedge against traditional currency fluctuations. Bessenet also emphasized that the strategic bitcoin reserve will achieve "budget-neutral" expansion through law enforcement seizures and will not use taxpayer funds for open market purchases. The related assets will be managed by the Federal Reserve and will not be sold or transferred unless extreme national economic emergencies occur.

Analysts believe that this decision signifies the first time the U.S. has elevated bitcoin to a strategic asset status close to that of gold at the policy level, potentially weakening the long-standing "government selling pressure" and having a demonstration effect on the digital asset policies of major global economies.