Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren has reportedly sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell urging them not to bail out “cryptocurrency billionaires” with taxpayer dollars.
Warren warned that any potential bailout “would be deeply unpopular to transfer wealth from American taxpayers to cryptocurrency billionaires,” adding that it could also “directly enrich President Trump and his family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, according to CNBC.
The letter comes as Bitcoin (BTC) prices have fallen more than 50% from their all-time high in October, hitting a local low of $60,000 on Feb. 6.
The letter also came on the same day that World Liberty Financial hosted its first “World Liberty Forum” for crypto executives and pro-industry policymakers at the President’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The US government is retaining seized Bitcoin
Senator Warren also referenced the Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council hearing on Feb. 4, during which Secretary Bessent was asked about his authority to bail out the crypto industry.
During the hearing, Congressman Brad Sherman asked Bessent if the Treasury Department “has the authority to bail out Bitcoin?” or instruct banks to buy Bitcoin or Trumpcoin (TRUMP).
A bemused Bessent asked for clarification on the question, stating that “within the context of asset diversification within banks, they could hold many assets.”
Sherman also expressed concern that US tax dollars might be invested in crypto assets. “Why would a private bank be your tax dollars?” asked the Treasury secretary.
Bessent confirmed that “we are retaining seized Bitcoin,” which is not tax money, but an “asset of the US government.”
Senator Warren claims response was “deflection”
Warren saw the exchange differently, stating in her letter that Bessent “deflected.”
“It’s deeply unclear what, if any, plans the US government currently has to intervene in the current Bitcoin selloff,” she wrote.
“Ultimately, any government intervention to stabilize Bitcoin would disproportionately benefit crypto billionaires.”
“Your agencies must refrain from propping up Bitcoin and transferring wealth from taxpayers to crypto billionaires through direct purchases, guarantees, or liquidity facilities,” the letter reportedly stated.
Cointelegraph reached out to Elizabeth Warren and the Treasury for comment, but did not receive an immediate response. A Federal Reserve spokesman confirmed they had received the letter but declined to comment.
