Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to divest dozens of assets including crypto ETFs to avoid conflicts of interest

PANews January 12 news: According to Bloomberg, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will resign from Key Square Group and sell his stake in the partnership if confirmed by the Senate. Avoid conflicts of interest.

Scott Bessent, who disclosed assets worth at least $521 million in his personal financial disclosure, listed nine top-tier assets tied to his hedge fund. These include two tranches of U.S. Treasury bills, two Invesco funds, and open interest in U.S. dollars against foreign currencies. He also listed a personal investment of no more than $500,000 in an iShares exchange-traded fund tied to the price of Bitcoin. As with his holdings through Key Square Capital, Bessent will divest cryptocurrency-based ETFs. According to his disclosure, Key Square Group will close at the end of March.

Some of Scott Bessent's potential conflicts of interest took longer to resolve. He has invested at least $250,000 in three funds that allow him to withdraw no more than 25% of his holdings each quarter. He has until the end of September to fully divest his holdings, which is much longer than the usual 90-day disclosure window. Scott Bessent said he would shy away from specific decisions that would have a predictable impact on stock values. Scott Bessent also lists residential real estate in the Bahamas worth at least $5 million and an art and antique collection worth at least $1 million.