White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt said the Trump administration will share new details about the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within “the next few weeks.” He described the update as both a major policy step and a response to custody concerns after a reported hack involving digital assets held by the US Marshals Service. Speaking at Consensus 2026 in Miami on Wednesday, Witt noted that work on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and the separate digital asset stockpile has mostly happened behind the scenes. The upcoming announcement, he said, will focus on “exactly the progress that’s been made and where we’re going from here.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to create the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile. The bitcoin reserve is funded with BTC seized through criminal or civil asset forfeiture and turned over to the Treasury. The non-bitcoin stockpile covers other forfeited digital assets under a separate framework.
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Witt linked the upcoming update directly to a recent security incident. “So, as many of the folks in this room may have seen, there was an exploit of certain assets that were held by the US Marshals just a month or two ago. We obviously started the work on the SBR, the digital asset stockpile, without thinking about that, but obviously thinking about we need to properly secure these assets. So 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.” He added that digital asset custody creates challenges that don’t fit neatly into traditional government asset management. “Custody is unique for digital assets. So we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress that’s kind of happened in the background and we’ll be making an announcement in the next few weeks, you know, laying out exactly the progress that’s been made and where we’re going from here.”
The exploit Witt mentioned appears to be the alleged theft linked to John Daghita, also known online as “John” or “Lick.” The case became public after blockchain investigator ZachXBT connected the “John/Lick” persona to wallets moving funds tied to US government-controlled crypto addresses. TRM Labs later said Daghita was arrested in Saint Martin in a joint operation by the French Gendarmerie and the FBI, with authorities accusing him of stealing cryptocurrency from wallets linked to the US Marshals Service.
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According to TRM’s summary, the investigation traced some of the activity to cryptocurrency seized in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack. TRM said about $24.9 million of the traced funds came from a US government-controlled wallet, while ZachXBT alleged that Daghita stole more than $46 million in seized crypto assets by abusing access at CMDSS, his father’s company, which had a contract with the US Marshals Service.
Notably, Witt had already hinted at the update days earlier at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas. Speaking on a panel at The Venetian Resort, he said the administration had spent months working through the legal interpretations needed to protect bitcoin on the government balance sheet after Trump’s executive order. “In the next few weeks, we’ll be making a big announcement,” Witt said there, adding that the administration believed it could take a “big step forward from the executive branch side” even before Congress acts. He also made clear at Bitcoin 2026 that legislation would still be needed to lock the policy in more permanently. That distinction is key: an executive-branch framework can shape custody and management now, but a statutory framework would be harder for a future administration to undo.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $84,500.At the time, Bitcoin was trading at $81,530. The featured image was created using DALL·E, and the chart is from TradingView.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the upcoming White House update on the US Bitcoin Reserve plan covering beginner to advanced aspects
Beginner Questions
1 What exactly is a US Bitcoin Reserve
Its a proposal for the US government to hold a large amount of Bitcoin as a national asset similar to how it holds gold or foreign currencies The idea is to buy and keep Bitcoin longterm
2 Why would the US government want to hold Bitcoin
Supporters say it could act as a hedge against inflation diversify national savings and position the US as a leader in digital finance Its also seen as a way to profit from Bitcoins potential growth
3 Is this a done deal Is the US already buying Bitcoin
No Its still a proposal The White House is expected to announce a major update which could be a new policy executive order or legislative push No official purchases have been confirmed yet
4 Will this affect the price of Bitcoin
Probably Any positive news from the White House tends to increase investor confidence which can drive prices up Negative news could cause a temporary drop
5 How is this different from the government seizing Bitcoin from criminals
Its very different The government currently holds Bitcoin from seizures A reserve means actively buying new Bitcoin to keep as a strategic asset not just holding what was confiscated
Intermediate Questions
6 What is the major update from the White House expected to be
It could be an executive order directing the Treasury to study or begin purchasing Bitcoin It might also involve a formal proposal for a pilot program or a public statement of support from key officials
7 How would the US government actually buy Bitcoin without crashing the market
They would likely use a blind or offexchange buying strategy working with large brokers or using dark pools to buy gradually They might also buy directly from miners or through a regulated exchange like Coinbase
8 Who would be in charge of managing this Bitcoin reserve
Most likely the Treasury Department or the Federal Reserve There are debates about whether it should be managed like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or like a sovereign wealth fund
9 What are the biggest risks of a US Bitcoin Reserve