Hegseth holds up to $65,000 in bitcoin, filing shows
The US defence secretary's 2025 financial disclosure lists a modest bitcoin holding in a Coinbase wallet, far smaller than his cash and retirement investments.
Key points
- Hegseth's filing shows between $16,000 and $65,000 in bitcoin, held in a Coinbase wallet
- A bank account holds $1 million in cash, more than his crypto
- He and his wife have retirement accounts worth roughly $2.05 million to $4.35 million
- Holdings include the Invesco QQQ Trust and the Apollo Diversified Real Estate Fund
- He sold Amazon, Microsoft and Apple stock, according to the disclosure
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a modest amount of bitcoin, according to his newly released 2025 annual financial disclosure. The filing shows between $16,000 and $65,000 in the leading cryptocurrency, held in a Coinbase wallet. That is far less than the $1 million in cash sitting in one of his bank accounts, Bitcoin Magazine reports.
Hegseth was appointed defence secretary in January 2025 and serves in what the article describes as the most crypto-friendly US administration to date. President Donald Trump has drawn support from digital asset industry figures and last month pushed for landmark crypto legislation, the Clarity Act, to pass.
The Office of Government Ethics filing also covers Hegseth's wife. It shows the couple hold retirement accounts with investments worth roughly $2.05 million to $4.35 million. Among the holdings are exchange-traded funds such as the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust and the closed-end Apollo Diversified Real Estate Fund.
A modest bitcoin holding
The disclosure lists transactions by Hegseth, including sales of Amazon, Microsoft and Apple stock. His bitcoin position, small next to those portfolios, is kept in a Coinbase wallet, the filing states.
His crypto holdings are modest compared with those of the Trump family, which has made billions from crypto ventures since the president took office. Trump personally disclosed making more than $1.4 billion from the family's digital asset businesses, making crypto his largest income source, ahead of real estate and legal settlements.
A Reuters investigation reported this year that the family, including sons Eric and Donald Jr, made $2.3 billion from four crypto ventures through the end of April 2026. Critics, including Democrats, have accused Trump of profiting from crypto while shaping policy on it.
Retirement funds and stock sales
The White House has consistently denied any conflicts of interest. Trump has pointed to stock trading by members of Congress, particularly Nancy Pelosi, and called for a ban on the practice. Hegseth's bitcoin holding is small, but the disclosure places another senior figure in an administration whose crypto ties are under scrutiny.