Former White House Adviser: Trump Still Interested in Increasing Bitcoin Holdings for U.S. Strategic Reserve, but Faces Legal Obstacles

November 11 — Former White House cryptocurrency advisor Patrick Witt said on the podcast "What Bitcoin Did" that President Trump remains interested in purchasing Bitcoin to bolster the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and related proposals have been discussed multiple times before. However, Witt noted that because the U.S. Congress holds the power of the purse, direct government purchases of Bitcoin on the open market face legal uncertainty. Congress has added relevant restrictive provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibiting such direct purchases. The administration is currently trying to secure the relevant authorization.

The U.S. government established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through an executive order in March 2025, with initial assets mainly coming from Bitcoin previously seized by the government, and required the Treasury and Commerce Departments to explore budget-neutral ways to acquire more BTC, but has not yet announced a specific plan or declared an open-market purchase program. Witt also said that permanently enshrining the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through standalone legislation would face great difficulty in a divided Congress. Without legislative support, the reserve currently still relies on an executive order, and a future president could revoke it through a new executive order.