U.S. Bitcoin Reserve Update Coming ‘in the Next Few Weeks,’ White House Adviser Says

An announcement on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is imminent, according to Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets. Speaking at Consensus Miami 2026 on Wednesday, Witt said his team has reached a “breakthrough” on the legal framework underpinning the reserve.

The White House plans to act from the executive branch side within weeks, Witt said. The comments mark the most specific timeline offered since President Trump signed the executive order creating the reserve in March 2025.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

That order halted the liquidation of seized crypto, directed agencies to audit their digital asset holdings, and authorized the Treasury and Commerce Departments to explore budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin. The federal government currently holds an estimated 328,372 BTC, worth roughly $25 billion at current prices, making the U.S. the largest known sovereign bitcoin holder.

The position represents close to 1.56% of bitcoin’s circulating supply, and the coins came almost entirely from criminal and civil forfeitures rather than open market purchases. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last August that the reserve would grow through future seizures rather than direct purchases, though he later left room for “budget-neutral pathways” to acquire more bitcoin.

Witt cited a recent security breach as a catalyst for urgency. A $46 million theft from U.S. Marshals Service crypto wallets surfaced earlier this year and led to the arrest of John Daghita in Saint Martin in March.

“Custody is unique for digital assets,” Witt said. “We made a lot of progress in the background, and we will make an announcement in the coming weeks laying out where we are going.”

The reserve still needs legislation to become permanent. Senator Cynthia Lummis’s BITCOIN Act, which envisions the Treasury acquiring 1 million BTC over five years, remains in the Senate. In the House, Rep. Nick Begich is reintroducing a companion bill under the renamed American Reserves Modernization Act (ARMA).

Lawmakers are expected to use the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act markup as the most realistic legislative vehicle for codification. Whether the forthcoming executive branch announcement includes plans for open market purchases or focuses on custody and accounting remains the key question for the market.