Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says US should be the 'premier destination for digital assets'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. "should be the premier destination for digital assets," as lawmakers grapple with how to draft rules for cryptocurrencies.

Bessent was asked on Wednesday, while testifying at a House Financial Services Committee hearing, why the U.S. needs to "take the lead" on crypto.

"We believe that the United States should be the premier destination for digital assets," Bessent said. "And as members of this committee and the Senate are attempting to do — create good market structure around that — so that U.S. best practices are used around the world."

Bessent, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Treasury and confirmed by the Senate in January, has previously expressed his positive view of crypto, saying that the crypto economy is "here to stay." Bessent is also a member of the "President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets," as part of an executive order issued by Trump on Jan. 23.

Though many questions during Wednesday's were focused on tariffs, that committee is also working on a bill to regulate crypto broadly. On Monday, House Republicans released a discussion draft proposing new roles for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, including disclosure mandates.

Some Democrats, though, have raised concerns over Trump's involvement in crypto after he launched his own memecoin shortly before his 2025 inauguration. His affiliated venture, World Liberty Financial, also recently launched its own stablecoin. On Tuesday, some Democrats splintered off to hold their own roundtable after leaving a scheduled hearing to discuss crypto regulation, citing their concerns about Trump's crypto involvement. Others, such as Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., stayed behind and said both sides need to work together.

On Thursday, the Senate is set to vote on a separate bill to regulate stablecoins. That, too, has hit a snag among some Democrats. On Saturday, Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, Raphael Warnock, Lisa Blunt Rochester, and others issued a statement warning that the current version of the bill contains multiple unresolved issues .