Bessent Flip-Flop On Bitcoin Shopping for Sends Crypto Tumbling

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Bitcoin plunged after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dominated out authorities purchases for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, sparking over $1 billion in crypto liquidations—after which he backtracked.

Throughout a Fox Enterprise interview, Bessent initially mentioned the Treasury wouldn’t be shopping for Bitcoin for its strategic reserve, sending Bitcoin to a 24-hour low of $117,254.

“We’ve additionally began to get into the twenty first century, a Bitcoin reserve,” Bessent mentioned throughout an interview with Fox Enterprise. “We’re not going to be shopping for that, however we’re going to use confiscated belongings and proceed to construct that up.”

Lengthy positions on Bitcoin and Ethereum have been hit hardest, wiping out greater than $500 million mixed.

Sentiment was already susceptible after a hotter-than-expected Producer Value Index (PPI) inflation. Wholesale costs soared 0.9% in July, far above analyst estimates, sparking fears {that a} potential rate of interest reduce can be postponed.

Then got here Bessent’s clarification on X

“Treasury is dedicated to exploring budget-neutral pathways to accumulate extra Bitcoin to broaden the reserve, and to execute on the President’s promise to make the US the ‘Bitcoin superpower of the world,’” he mentioned, sending Bitcoin again above $119k.

Bitcoin that has been lastly forfeited to the federal authorities would be the basis of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that President Trump established in his March Government Order.
As well as, Treasury is dedicated to exploring budget-neutral pathways to accumulate extra…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 14, 2025

Senator Cynthia Lummis, an advocate for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, backed Bessent’s clarification, proposing that the US may revalue its gold reserves to fund additional Bitcoin accumulation.

“We can not save our nation from $37T debt by buying extra bitcoin, however we are able to revalue gold reserves to at present’s costs & switch the rise in worth to construct SBR,” she mentioned.

Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff pushed again, warning that such a transfer may require printing extra {dollars}, probably fueling inflation.

“There isn’t any elevated worth,” he mentioned on X. “The additional cash must be printed into existence by the Fed. We don’t must create extra inflation to purchase Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin Down Over 2%

Bitcoin was capable of get better barely after dipping to a 24-hour low of $117,254.88, and trades at $118,796.35 as of 1:50 a.m., knowledge from CoinMarketCap reveals.

Regardless of the rebound, the main crypto remains to be down greater than 2% within the final 24 hours. It has additionally fallen over 4% since setting its new ATH at $124,457.12 simply yesterday.

Bessent Flip-Flop On Bitcoin Shopping for Sends Crypto Tumbling

Bitcoin worth chart (Supply: CoinMarketCap)

The lion’s share of the $1 billion in liquidations have been from lengthy positions, with over $850 million being worn out from these bullish bets, in accordance to CoinGlass.

Lengthy positions for crypto market chief BTC and Ethereum (ETH) took the most important knock. The CoinGlass knowledge reveals that round $344.22 million received liquidated from ETH longs, whereas $171.96 million received worn out from bullish bets for BTC.

Sentiment within the crypto market additionally took a considerable knock, as proven by the 15-point drop the Crypto Concern and Greed Index skilled within the final 24 hours.

At present at a “Greed” rating of 60, the index has reached ranges final seen firstly of the month when there was uncertainty round Trump’s tariff deadline for commerce companions and the potential ramifications.

The remainder of the highest 10 largest cryptos by market cap additionally stay within the purple on the 24-hour timeframe. XRP’s beneficial properties from the conclusion of Ripple’s yearslong lawsuit with the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) have been slashed, with the altcoin now down over 3%.

Binance Coin (BNB) is within the purple by a fraction of a share, however remains to be up greater than 8% on the longer-term weekly timeframe after lately reaching a brand new ATH as properly.

In the meantime, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), TRON (TRX) and Cardano (ADA) are down 3%, 5%, 2% and a pair of%, respectively.