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White House Official Says Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Announcement Due Within Weeks

Source

Suehyeon Lee

Summary

Patrick Witt said an announcement on the US government's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would come within the next few weeks.
He said work to count, consolidate and safeguard government-held Bitcoin and digital assets has been underway since President Donald Trump issued an executive order.
Witt said seized virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) would not automatically be included in the reserve, and that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve framework would need to be codified through congressional legislation.

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The US government is set to announce details of its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, or SBR, within weeks.

Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Digital Assets Advisory Council, made the comment at the Consensus conference in Miami, CoinDesk reported on May 6.

Witt said the government has spent the past several months counting, consolidating and safeguarding Bitcoin and other digital assets held across federal agencies. After President Donald Trump issued an executive order, the government halted its previous practice of selling such assets and began reviewing holdings across agencies.

He said some agencies had managed cold wallets in a disorganized manner, exposing weaknesses in asset custody. Witt also cited alleged hacking incidents involving assets overseen by the US Marshals Service as evidence of the need for centralized management of digital assets.

He did not disclose how much Bitcoin the government holds. Witt said establishing a proper custody and management system comes first, and that details on the size and structure of the reserve would be announced later.

Seized cryptocurrencies will not automatically be added to the reserve, he said. They will be managed separately until legal proceedings are complete, with victim restitution considered before any decision is made on whether to include them.

Witt also said the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would ultimately require legislation from Congress. Bills under discussion include the Senate's BITCOIN Act and the House's Modernization of America Through Reserves and Investments for National Growth Act.

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