The Bitcoin community lit up on Thursday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made an unannounced appearance at the launch of Washington’s new Bitcoin-themed bar, Pubkey.
“Having the Secretary of the Treasury at the Pubkey DC launch seems like a moment I could easily look back on and say ‘wow, it was all so obvious,” Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Strive chief investment officer Ben Werkman said in an X post on Thursday.
Steven Lubka, Nakamoto’s vice president of investor relations, called it “the sign you have been waiting for.”
Scott Bessent is widely seen as pro-crypto
Many other prominent Bitcoiners, including Bitcoin analyst Fred Krueger, Gemini Chief of Staff Jeff Tiller, Bitcoin podcaster Natalie Brunell, and Bitcoin Policy Institute co-founder David Zell, also viewed Bessent’s appearance as a hugely positive sign for Bitcoin.
Bessent has been seen as crypto-friendly since his Treasury nomination drew attention in late 2024. He has previously said that the US should aim to be a global center for digital assets and has backed several of this year’s crypto bills, including the GENIUS Act.
It was only in August that Bessent clarified that his department was still exploring budget-neutral ways to buy Bitcoin for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Some traders tried to tie his appearance to Bitcoin’s recent price slump. “In this type of market, signals like this don’t matter much. Eventually, traders look back and realize it mattered,” crypto trader MacroScope said in an X post on Thursday.
Bessent’s appearance comes amid Bitcoin slump
Bessent’s show of support for the Bitcoin bar comes amid a stretch of weak sentiment around Bitcoin. After reaching an all-time high of $125,100 on Oct. 5, Bitcoin has slipped into a downtrend, trading at around $85,500 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
Related: Bitcoin hits ‘most bearish’ levels: Is the bull cycle ending?
Data from Santiment’s research platform, Sanbase, found that social media mentions on Thursday were roughly evenly split between predictions of Bitcoin dropping to between $20,000 and $70,000 and more bullish takes of between $100,000 and $130,000.
The launch of the venue follows the attention it received from its sister venue in New York City, which launched in late 2022 to significant hype from local media.
It received national spotlight in September 2024 when then-presidential hopeful Donald Trump made a campaign stop at the establishment.
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