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The US government wants to hold Bitcoin. The US government also can’t agree on who gets to hold the keys. That, in a nutshell, is the state of President Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve heading into mid-2026, a full 15 months after Executive Order 14233 was signed with considerable fanfare.
Trump signed Executive Order 14233 on March 6, 2025. The core concept was elegant enough: stop dumping Bitcoin that the government seizes through criminal and civil forfeiture actions, and instead hold it in a dedicated reserve managed by the US Treasury.
The order explicitly prohibits all sales of these forfeited assets. It also bars any purchases of Bitcoin using taxpayer funds, meaning the reserve can only grow through law enforcement seizures.
Federal agencies were given 30 days to conduct a complete accounting of their digital asset holdings and evaluate their transfer authorities. The Treasury Department got 60 days to propose the necessary legal framework or draft legislation for custodial accounts.
Both deadlines have long since passed. Neither task is fully resolved.
The order also separated Bitcoin from other digital assets, giving it a dedicated custody arrangement.
Where things got stuck
Patrick Witt, the White House’s Digital Assets advisor, has pointed to “obscure legal provisions” as a significant barrier to getting the reserve operational. Different agencies have different authorities over seized digital assets, and those authorities don’t always play nicely together.
As of early 2026, the Treasury is still navigating these questions while waiting for congressional backing to establish the necessary custodial infrastructure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the administration’s commitment to the reserve in January 2026, emphasizing that it would remain budget-neutral.
Witt has also mentioned a “breakthrough” and hinted at an announcement related to the reserve expected later in 2026.
Congressional efforts aren’t moving much faster
Senator Cynthia Lummis has proposed legislation to formalize the reserve. Representative Nick Begich has put forward a related initiative in the House. Neither bill has gained significant traction.
Trump campaigned in 2024 on making the US the “crypto capital of the world.” The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was a centerpiece of that pitch.
What this means for investors
The restriction to forfeited assets only, with no taxpayer-funded purchases, means the reserve’s growth rate depends entirely on the pace of federal seizures.
Previous sales of seized Bitcoin had cost taxpayers an estimated $17 billion in lost value, as the government routinely dumped assets at prices far below what patient holding would have yielded. Stopping that bleeding has real value, even if it’s less dramatic than a sovereign buying program.
The next concrete catalyst to watch is whatever announcement Witt has been teasing for later in 2026. If the Treasury manages to resolve its interagency disputes and establish functioning custodial accounts, that would mark the reserve’s transition from aspirational policy to operational reality.
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