White House official reveals new details on Bitcoin reserve

By TheStreet Roundtable

12 days ago

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The long-awaited U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is about to become a lot less theoretical.

Patrick Witt, executive director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, told the audience at CoinDesk's Consensus Miami 2026 on Wednesday that an announcement on the reserve is coming "in the next few weeks." He declined to disclose the size of the government's current Bitcoin holdings, saying the priority right now is to "get our own house in order" before making details public.

The comments mark the most concrete timeline the White House has offered since President Donald Trump signed the executive order establishing the reserve more than 14 months ago.

What the reserve actually is, and what it isn't

On March 6, 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. The order did two things: it halted what Witt characterized as "fire sale" liquidations of seized crypto under the previous administration, and it directed agencies to begin auditing what digital assets they actually hold.

The reserve is capitalized entirely with Bitcoin that was forfeited through criminal or civil asset seizure proceedings — not purchased on the open market. The order explicitly states that Bitcoin deposited into the reserve "shall not be sold" and shall be maintained as reserve assets of the United States. It also calls on the government to explore "budget-neutral" strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin without burdening taxpayers.

The Digital Asset Stockpile, which is separate from the Bitcoin reserve, would hold other crypto assets seized by the government, including Ethereum, XRP, and various altcoins.

How much Bitcoin does the U.S. government actually hold?

That is the question nobody has fully answered yet — including, it appears, the government itself.

The U.S. is estimated to hold approximately 198,000 to 328,000 BTC, making it the largest sovereign Bitcoin holder in the world. At current prices around $81,000, that represents roughly $16 billion to $26.6 billion in value. The wide range reflects uncertainty about which assets have been fully forfeited versus those still tied to active legal proceedings.

The holdings come primarily from three major law enforcement seizures: the Silk Road marketplace takedown, the Bitfinex hack recovery (in which the DOJ seized 94,636 BTC in 2022), and various other criminal forfeitures over the past decade.

Witt acknowledged at Consensus that the audit process has revealed a messy picture. "We've heard stories and confirmed some of them of cold wallets that were being stored in drawers of desks in various agencies," he said.

The $60 million hack that proved the point

Witt cited a recent exploit involving digital assets held by the U.S. Marshals Service as a motivating proof point for why centralized custody matters.

In January, Bloomberg reported that the Marshals Service was investigating a possible hack of government digital-asset accounts. The investigation followed allegations from on-chain investigator ZachXBT, who claimed a hacker stole more than $60 million from government seizure wallets in late 2025. A separate $24 million theft was traced to October 2024.

ZachXBT alleged that the individual, operating under the handles "John" and "Lick," may be connected to a federal crypto custody contractor. No criminal charges have been announced.

"It's a case in point for why it was so necessary that the president established the SBR, and that he instructed the agencies to take these assets very seriously and properly safeguard them," Witt said. "Custody is unique for digital assets."

Not every seized coin goes into the reserve

Witt clarified an important procedural detail that has been widely misunderstood. The reserve will not automatically absorb every newly seized crypto asset. Bitcoin seized in active legal proceedings sits in pending status until forfeiture is finalized. Assets may also be returned to victims through court-ordered restitution before they can be transferred to the reserve.

The separate Digital Asset Stockpile — for non-Bitcoin crypto — follows the same process. Only after forfeiture is complete and any victim restitution has been satisfied does an asset become eligible for inclusion.

The legal questions nobody had explored

Witt said much of the staff work over the past year has gone into general-counsel-level questions that had never been examined before: which authorities allow agencies to hold digital assets, for how long, and whether the holdings are subject to congressional clawback.

"This really hadn't been explored until the president signed the executive order," he said.

The executive order alone does not make the reserve permanent. It can be revoked by any future president. That is why codification through Congress is critical — and it is where the process currently sits.

Where the legislation stands

Two bills are in motion to give the reserve the force of law.

In the Senate, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced the BITCOIN Act of 2025, which would direct the Treasury to purchase 200,000 BTC per year for five years and hold those coins for a minimum of 20 years. The bill is currently in the Senate Banking Committee, with a markup expected this month.

In the House, Alaska Representative Nick Begich has rebranded his version of the same bill as the American Reserves Modernization Act (ARMA) — a strategic rename designed to broaden bipartisan appeal. Begich has said he is coordinating with Lummis to align both chambers.

"It always needs to be followed up with proper legislation," Witt said.

If the BITCOIN Act passes, the Treasury is estimated to begin its first official Bitcoin purchase in Q4 2026 — a move that would make the United States the first sovereign nation to actively accumulate Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.

The global context

The U.S. is not the only government sitting on significant Bitcoin holdings. China is estimated to hold roughly 190,000 BTC from various seizures, and the United Kingdom holds approximately 61,000 BTC. El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, holds around 6,174 BTC.

But none of these countries have announced plans to treat Bitcoin as a formal reserve asset on the scale the U.S. is contemplating. The BITCOIN Act's proposal to acquire 1 million BTC over five years — at current prices, roughly $81 billion — would represent a commitment without parallel in the history of sovereign reserves.

Whether Congress has the appetite to pass it remains the open question. Witt's comments at Consensus suggest the White House believes the answer is yes — and that the next few weeks will make the case.