The U.S. Treasury Department will formally include the confiscation of Bitcoin in the national strategic reserve.

On January 21, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant 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 Department to the "U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve." According to this policy, Bitcoins primarily obtained through criminal and civil asset seizures will be permanently retained and will no longer be subject to regular auctions by the U.S. Marshals Service. Bessant stated that this move aims to "stop the outflow of sovereign digital wealth" and to treat 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 fluctuations in traditional currencies. Bessant also emphasized that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will be expanded in a "budget-neutral" manner through law enforcement seizures and will not use taxpayer funds for open market purchases. The assets will be held in custody by the Federal Reserve and may not be sold or transferred except in the event of an extreme national economic emergency. Analysts believe that this decision signifies the first time the United States has elevated Bitcoin to a strategic asset status close to that of gold at the policy level, which may weaken long-standing "government selling pressure" and have a demonstrative effect on the digital asset policies of major economies around the world.