The White House says the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has cleared a major operational hurdle. Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said at Consensus 2026 that the administration has put in place the legal compliance and custody structure needed to safeguard crypto assets held by the government, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.
Witt called the development a “breakthrough.” His remarks appear to be the first official confirmation that the reserve framework has moved past the regulatory barriers that had previously prevented Washington from properly securing seized Bitcoin. In his description, the system now has a legally sound basis and a workable custody setup for federal holdings.
Executive order created the reserve, but legislation is still needed
The update comes more than a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. That order instructed federal agencies to consolidate Bitcoin obtained through civil and criminal forfeiture into a single reserve account and barred the Treasury from selling those assets. What Witt outlined now is the missing operational structure behind that directive.
He also drew a line between executive action and permanence. Witt said executive orders can establish an initial framework, but long-term protection still depends on Congress. The administration is working with Deputy Harry John and Stephen Miller’s policy team on interagency coordination for the reserve, while lawmakers remain focused on the CLARITY Act. Witt argued that policy reversals between the Trump and Biden administrations show why codification through the BITCOIN Act and the American Reserve Modernization Action Act matters.
Government Bitcoin holdings are estimated at 328,372 BTC
According to figures cited from Wikipedia, the U.S. government was estimated to hold about 328,372 BTC as of February 2026, making it the largest known state holder of Bitcoin. With Bitcoin trading at around $77,277 on May 18, 2026, those holdings would be worth roughly $25.4 billion.
Witt said the reserve should treat Bitcoin as a strategic asset, placing it closer to gold or petroleum stockpiles than to a speculative trade. That framing gives a clearer sense of how the administration wants the reserve to be understood inside federal policy.
Custody failures remain part of the policy push
Witt also pointed to custody failures, saying losses involving the U.S. Marshals exposed weaknesses in the current system. In his view, those gaps strengthen the case for the BITCOIN Act and ARMA Act, which would add legal protection beyond an executive order alone.
He added that if the United States does not establish clear regulatory leadership, it could end up following digital asset frameworks shaped elsewhere. The White House has not yet shared the details of the coming announcement, but Witt’s comments indicate that the reserve is moving from political concept to functioning structure.