US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that digital assets could help strengthen the US dollar’s global dominance, as technology becomes an increasingly important source of American economic influence. Speaking at Ripple’s Swell conference in New York, Bessent framed crypto not just as a financial market, but as part of the infrastructure that could sustain US economic power.
Scott Bessent (Credits: CoinDesk)
Bessent crypto dollar argument: technology umbrella replaces military umbrella
In a conversation with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Bessent argued that the power behind the world’s reserve currencies through history derived from military strength, but that it is increasingly shifting toward technological leadership. He said: We will keep our military umbrella, but I think more and more it’s becoming a technology umbrella.
He pointed to the growing divide between US and Chinese technology ecosystems, where countries and companies face choices over whose artificial intelligence systems and semiconductor technology to adopt. Bessent said he sees digital assets as part of that competition, with the financial infrastructure countries choose influencing the dollar’s reach.
He said: I think that digital assets are going to be no different, and we are going to win in the digital asset stack, and that’s gonna continue to fortify the [US] dollar.
Bessent says stablecoins can expand dollar demand and Treasury funding
Central to Bessent’s argument are stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value against fiat currencies like the US dollar. Bessent argued that stablecoins backed by US government assets are popular around the world, and that once the US has a regulatory regime that respects the rule of law and provides holders with good fundamentals, there will be a big uptick in such stablecoins.
He predicted that could become an important source of funding for the Treasury, since stablecoins are backed by US dollar-denominated assets like Treasurys, and demand could grow further if more stablecoins used outside the US are based in dollars. Bessent also argued stablecoins could reinforce the dollar by expanding access to US currency in countries where local currencies face inflation or sharp swings in value.
Bessent also said the Treasury Department could work with the SEC and CFTC to clarify cryptocurrency rules after the failure to pass federal digital asset regulation, and to establish safeguards against banks cutting off services to digital-asset businesses. His remarks come after the Trump administration secured passage of the GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, and as regulators press ahead with their own stablecoin rules after lawmakers in September failed to move forward the CLARITY Act market structure bill.
This article reports what Bessent said at the conference and does not offer investment advice. His comments frame the administration’s push to bring crypto businesses onshore as a broader competition over the technology stack that underpins the global economy, and one in which, in his view, the dollar still has the most to gain.
Also Read: Brazilian Companies Turned to Stablecoins on Election Day to Dodge a Currency Crash
Source: CoinDesk — read the full story there.
