The Bitcoin community erupted on Thursday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a surprise appearance at the opening of Washington, D.C.’s new Bitcoin-themed bar, Pubkey.
“Having the Secretary of the Treasury at the Pubkey DC launch feels like one of those moments I’ll look back on and think, ‘Wow, it was all so obvious,’” said Ben Werkman, chief investment officer at Bitcoin treasury firm Strive, in a post on X.
Steven Lubka, vice president of investor relations at Nakamoto, called the appearance “the sign you’ve been waiting for.”
Bessent, widely regarded as pro-crypto, was greeted enthusiastically by prominent figures in the Bitcoin world. Analysts and influencers including Fred Krueger, Gemini Chief of Staff Jeff Tiller, Bitcoin podcaster Natalie Brunell, and David Zell, co-founder of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, all hailed his presence as a major positive signal for the cryptocurrency community.
Scott Bessent has been viewed as crypto-friendly since his Treasury nomination attracted attention in late 2024. He has previously advocated for the U.S. to become a global hub for digital assets and has supported several crypto-focused bills this year, including the GENIUS Act.
In August, Bessent clarified that the Treasury was still exploring budget-neutral options for purchasing Bitcoin for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Some traders, however, cautioned against reading too much into his Pubkey appearance amid 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 wrote on X.
Bessent’s show of support comes during a period of weak Bitcoin sentiment. After hitting an all-time high of $125,100 on October 5, Bitcoin has drifted downward, trading around $85,500 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap. Data from Santiment’s research platform, Sanbase, showed social media commentary on Thursday split roughly evenly between bearish predictions of $20,000–$70,000 and bullish forecasts of $100,000–$130,000.
The Washington, D.C., venue follows in the footsteps of its sister location in New York City, which opened in late 2022 and drew significant media attention. Pubkey also made national headlines in September 2024 when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump visited the bar during his campaign.
