The White House has confirmed that the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve currently holds about 328,372 BTC, equal to roughly 1.6% of Bitcoin’s total supply. Most of the holdings came from law enforcement seizures and asset forfeitures, including Bitcoin tied to the Silk Road investigation and assets recovered from the 2022 Bitfinex hack.
The reserve was formally created after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025. Since then, several federal agencies have worked on standards for the safe custody and reporting of Bitcoin held by the government. Patrick Witt, the administration’s lead advisor on the effort, said the infrastructure was built with traditional reserve assets such as gold in mind while also addressing the custody needs of digital assets. His deputy, Harry John, led the interagency review and incorporated domestic legal opinions into the framework.
Custody system and private key controls are in place
Witt said at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas that the administration expected to announce the developments within weeks. In a later interview, he said the schedule remained intact and that the private key security system and custody procedures had been fully implemented. Under the executive order, the US Treasury is not allowed to sell the Bitcoin held in the reserve.
The push for the reserve also followed a series of crypto custody failures in the US. Witt pointed to a case involving the US Marshals Service, where contractor John Daghita was accused of embezzling $46 million in crypto at the end of 2025. The FBI traced and apprehended the suspect in early 2026. He also referenced another theft in October 2024, in which $24 million in digital assets was taken unlawfully.
Congress is advancing two bills around the reserve
Lawmakers have also introduced two separate bills aimed at strengthening the legal basis for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Representative Nick Begich reintroduced his earlier BITCOIN Act under a new name, the American Reserves Modernization Act, or ARMA. The proposal would authorize the Treasury to buy as many as 200,000 BTC per year for five years, with those holdings required to remain in place for 20 years.
Senator Cynthia Lummis said the proposal needs to reach a floor vote before Congress leaves for summer recess, noting that the legislative window is narrowing as election season approaches. If enacted, the measure would allow the Treasury to begin buying Bitcoin directly from the market as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.