Bessent says stablecoin growth extends dollar reach and Treasury demand

More than 90% of stablecoins are dollar-backed and their issuers often hold U.S. government securities, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday at Ripple's Swell conference. The structure, he said, extends the dollar's reach into new markets and creates another source of demand for U.S. debt.

Bessent, in a conversation with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, framed reserve-currency power as increasingly a matter of technology rather than military strength alone. "We will keep our military umbrella, but I think more and more it's becoming a technology umbrella," he said. He pointed to the U.S.-China divide in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, and said digital assets would be contested the same way: "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 [U.S.] dollar."

The reserve mix is the advisor touchpoint, Bessent said, because dollar-token issuers often hold U.S. government securities, making a client's balance an indirect claim on a Treasury portfolio. That makes reserve composition a due-diligence question for stablecoins held for cash management or cross-border payments.

Bessent said, "I think it's gonna be an important source of funding for the Treasury," and rejected the argument that they mainly displace dollars people already hold. He said the tokens reach users in emerging markets who want to protect savings from currency devaluation or sharp swings: "I think we are opening up new markets all around the world."

The administration secured passage of the GENIUS Act, creating a federal framework for stablecoins, but Congress failed to pass the Clarity Act for the wider crypto industry. Bessent called the Clarity Act's failure a disappointment and said the Treasury Department could work with regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.