Bessent Wagers Against Yen, Claims Insider Knowledge

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has challenged currency traders to short the yen, claiming his coordination with Tokyo gives him near-insider knowledge of the Bank of Japan's next move.

Speaking at Southern Methodist University on September 8, Bessent said he is 'the house now' and that when they intervene with the Japanese yen, he has 'pretty good insight into what the Bank of Japan is going to do, what Japanese policymakers are going to do.'

Bessent's comments come after a coordinated yen-buying intervention on July 31, where the U.S. and Japan spent a record 15.4 trillion yen (about $98 billion) defending the currency between July 30 and August 26.

The Treasury Secretary's history of making big bets on currencies is well-documented, including his involvement in convincing George Soros to short the British pound in 1992, a trade that earned Soros' firm roughly $1 billion.