U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that global economic power is increasingly shifting from military strength to technological leadership, arguing that American dominance in digital assets could help preserve the dollar’s position as the world’s leading reserve currency.

“We will keep our military umbrella, but I think more and more it’s becoming a technology umbrella,” Bessent said at Ripple’s Swell conference, drawing parallels between the U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence and semiconductors and the race to control digital financial infrastructure.

“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.

The remarks carry added weight given the speaker: the Treasury Department oversees U.S. fiscal policy and manages the federal government’s debt, placing Bessent’s framing of stablecoin-driven Treasury demand squarely within his department’s remit.

According to Bessent, U.S. leadership in digital assets would further strengthen the dollar’s global reach, while dollar-backed stablecoins could broaden access to the currency and increase demand for U.S. Treasuries. He noted that more than 90% of stablecoins are backed by the dollar.

Stablecoins are blockchain-based tokens designed to maintain a stable value against a reference asset — most commonly the U.S. dollar — and have become a widely used medium for dollar-denominated transactions on public blockchains. That backing structure underpins Bessent’s argument: wider stablecoin circulation, in his view, translates into a larger pool of dollar assets and government debt held to support them.

Swell is Ripple’s annual conference for leaders across payments, blockchain, and digital assets.

The remarks were reported by BitcoinKE on Oct. 28, 2026.