US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent celebrated the 17th anniversary of the Bitcoin White Paper in a way that shocked both the political and digital asset worlds.
In a post on
“Seventeen years after the white paper, the Bitcoin network is still up and running and more resilient than ever.” Bessent pointed out: “Bitcoin will never shut down. @SenateDems might learn something from that.”
The Treasury secretary’s message comes as the U.S. government has been shut down for more than a month, leaving about 900,000 employees and millions more working without pay.
Bessent’s comparison of the uninterrupted operation of rare digital assets to the political turmoil on Capitol Hill certainly caught people’s attention.
October 31st has a special meaning in the Bitcoin world. This commemorates the date in 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page white paper outlining his vision for a decentralized peer-to-peer electronic money system.
Since its launch in January 2009, the Bitcoin network has been online 99.99% of the time, and its supporters often celebrate this fact.
Bessent’s post turned the anniversary celebration into a broader political and economic statement. His choice to team up with Senate Democrats highlighted the partisan nature of the funding impasse in Washington, which has now become one of the longest government shutdowns in U.S. history.
Although the post was short, its impact was immediate. X received a flood of responses from traders, analysts, and policymakers. Some saw Mr. Bessent’s remarks as more than just a celebration and a policy signal from the Treasury Department.
James Lavish, director of Bitcoin finance company Strive, wrote: “Heed the traffic light. This is a traffic light.”
Many interpreted the statement as confirmation that the Trump administration remains committed to digital assets, following a series of comments and policies in recent months.
Earlier this year, Bessent described stablecoins as a “revolution in digital finance” after President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act, which aims to modernize digital payments infrastructure.
He also hinted that the Treasury Department is exploring “budget-neutral paths to acquiring more Bitcoin” to expand the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
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Just a few years ago, Washington’s attitude towards digital assets was far less friendly. Policymakers have often portrayed digital assets as tools of criminals or threats to financial stability.
Many in the community refer to this period as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” when banks distanced themselves from digital asset companies and startups struggled to access financial services.
Bessent’s recent comments mark a surprising reversal.
Hearing the Secretary of the Treasury describe Bitcoin as something the government should study and learn from rather than try to shut down is the kind of headline that would have seemed unbelievable, or even a joke, just a year ago.
Despite the market volatility, many took Bessent’s remarks as a vote of confidence. But others were more skeptical.
Longtime Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dash Jr. hit back in comments that referenced debate within the developer community over recent software changes, claiming the network is “weaker than ever.”
Still, the broad tone and public response to Mr. Bessent’s message showed that Bitcoin has moved beyond its outsider status in Washington. What was once dismissed as a speculative fad is now being discussed as critical digital infrastructure.