Is Donald Trump's Bitcoin reserve finally arriving? | Source: CCN.
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Key Takeaways
Trump crypto adviser Patrick Witt said the White House has achieved a “breakthrough” on the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said US Bitcoin holdings could eventually surpass $1 trillion.
The CLARITY Act is “90%” complete, Witt said.
President Donald Trump’s top crypto adviser said the White House has achieved a “breakthrough” in efforts to establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, signaling that it may be nearing implementation.
The comments are among the clearest indications yet that the Trump administration is actively advancing plans in response to President Trump’s March 2025 executive order.
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Patrick Witt, a member of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said during an appearance on the Wolf of Wall Street podcast that administration officials were finalizing the legal groundwork needed to manage government-held Bitcoin securely.
“We’ll have an announcement. I wish I could say more,” Witt said.
Adding: “It’s a breakthrough as far as getting everything in place legally sound, properly safeguarding the assets.”
Witt said officials had continued working on the reserve behind the scenes since President Trump signed the executive order, even as broader crypto legislation dominated attention in Washington.
The process has reportedly involved interagency legal reviews, authority assessments, and operational planning.
He credited deputy adviser Harry John and White House policy teams for leading negotiations across agencies to determine how digital assets should be stored and protected.
Reserve Push Gains Momentum After Coinbase Forecast
Witt’s remarks come days after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argued that US government Bitcoin holdings could eventually exceed $1 trillion in value if Washington follows through on its proposed plans.
The US is already the world’s largest known sovereign Bitcoin holder, controlling an estimated 328,372 BTC as of February 2026, according to blockchain tracking data.
Federal authorities accumulated the bulk of those Bitcoin holdings through asset forfeitures linked to Silk Road cases, ransomware operations, and federal forfeiture cases.
Armstrong has also pointed to Senator Cynthia Lummis’s BITCOIN Act as a potential catalyst for large-scale federal accumulation.
The BITCOIN Act would allow the US government to purchase up to 1 million BTC over five years.
Lummis first introduced the proposal in July 2024, then reintroduced it in March 2025 with additional Republican cosponsors.
The bill proposes financing purchases by diversifying existing federal reserves rather than by new appropriations.
White House Pursuing Multiple Crypto Tracks
Witt said the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve remains an active White House priority alongside broader market structure legislation and stablecoin regulation.
“[CLARITY Act] is dominating my time, but it’s not the only thing that we’re doing, as we talked about with the SBR, with different rule makings that are in flight,” he said.
Witt described the CLARITY Act as potentially “one of the most impactful pieces of financial legislation in American history” if passed.
According to Witt, the bill would formally grant the CFTC authority over spot digital commodity markets and establish definitions distinguishing securities from commodities.
“The number of issues in this bill that are of great importance,” Witt said, “the list goes on.”
Banks Increasingly Back Crypto Legislation
Witt also said major US banks were increasingly supportive of crypto legislation because traditional financial institutions risk being left behind if tokenization accelerates without clear regulations.
“There are a lot of banks out there that are very bullish on this legislation,” Witt said.
“Banks are actually probably more in need of this legislation than crypto is.”
He said banks needed legal certainty to engage in activities such as crypto lending, rather than relying on shifting regulatory interpretations.
Without statutory clarity, institutions could face repeated policy reversals between administrations, Witt said.
He pointed to SoFi’s exit and re-entry into crypto services as an example of regulatory instability.
CLARITY Act Nearing Completion
Witt said negotiations around the CLARITY Act were nearing completion, with most substantive disagreements already resolved.
“As far as the substance goes, I would say 90% is probably the right number,” he said.
However, he cautioned that negotiators still need to work through additional issues before reaching a final House-Senate reconciliation agreement.
Remaining disputes largely center on stablecoin rewards and yield products, an issue that has divided crypto firms and banking groups.
“When there are equal amounts of frustration or disappointment on both sides, that is the true mark of a good compromise,” he said.
The Trump administration has framed its crypto push as part of a larger effort to ensure global dominance.
“We want to dominate, we want to be the best in the world,” Witt said.
Adding: “Crypto is obviously one of those technologies that the President said early on, we want to be number one.”
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
