US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Is Still A ‘Priority,’ White House Adviser Says

The White House remains to be treating a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as an energetic precedence, at the same time as officers work by way of what govt director of the White House Crypto Council Patrick Witt described because the authorized and bureaucratic questions that sit beneath an concept that, on paper, sounds easy.

US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve On ‘Priority List’

In an interview recorded on the White House for the Jan. 13 episode of Crypto In America, Witt advised host Eleanor Terrett that interagency talks on implementing President Donald Trump’s govt order are ongoing and that the trouble stays on the administration’s “precedence record,” as Congress concurrently strikes towards its subsequent steps on crypto market construction laws later this week.

Asked how the White House is considering the reserve “lately,” Witt pointed to a course of being pushed not solely by crypto coverage employees, however by the operations equipment tasked with pushing govt orders by way of the federal authorities.

“We’ve had good engagement from the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy crew, which is Steven Miller’s crew […] [to] be sure that the entire govt orders which have been signed by the president — that the businesses are transferring out on them,” Witt mentioned. “The treasury crew, commerce crew is concerned. […] It appears easy, however then you definitely get into some […] obscure authorized provisions and why this company can’t do it, however really this company might.”

Witt framed the present part as much less about whether or not the administration desires the reserve, and extra about making certain it could possibly transfer in a approach that can stand up to scrutiny. “We’re persevering with to push on that. It is actually nonetheless on the precedence record proper now,” he mentioned, including that “Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel […] has offered some good steerage on the place we will […] transfer out on this govt order […] and achieve this in a legally sound approach.”

The remarks come in opposition to the backdrop of Trump’s March 2025 executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a broader “digital asset stockpile,” which directed the federal government to deal with present federally held bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset whereas businesses had been tasked to analysis methods for budget-neutral acquisition.

Witt additionally addressed a separate flashpoint that has circulated in Bitcoin circles in current days: speculation that the Department of Justice had sold bitcoin linked to the Samourai Wallet case, doubtlessly conflicting with the administration’s reserve posture.

“I believe it was considerably misreported,” Witt mentioned, referencing the settlement language and what he characterised as normal authorized drafting. “If you take a look at the settlement settlement, the authorized paperwork, it feels like […] the company goes to take a sure motion. […] In speaking with DOJ, it was principally written in such a approach the place they protect all of their choices and their rights in these agreements, however these bitcoins haven’t been liquidated. Those digital property haven’t been bought.”

Witt’s backside line for viewers was that the headline allegation, that DOJ had “outright violated” the chief order, “is just not a priority,” although he careworn that he couldn’t say extra past that.

At press time, BTC traded at $95,078.