U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said digital assets could help strengthen the U.S. dollar's global dominance as technology becomes an increasingly important source of American economic influence.
Speaking Tuesday at Ripple's Swell conference with CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Bessent argued that the power behind the world's reserve currencies historically derived from military strength, but that this influence is increasingly shifting toward technological leadership. "We will keep our military umbrella, but I think more and more it's becoming a technology umbrella," he said.
Bessent pointed to the growing divide between U.S. and Chinese technology ecosystems, where countries and companies face choices over whose artificial intelligence systems and semiconductor technology to adopt. He said he views digital assets as part of that competition, with the financial infrastructure countries choose influencing the U.S. dollar's reach. "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," he said.
Stablecoins as a dollar-expansion tool
The Trump administration has already secured passage of the GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value against fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. Bessent argued that stablecoins could reinforce the dollar's position by expanding access to U.S. currency in countries where local currencies face inflation or sharp swings in value.
