The White House is preparing to provide a new update on the proposed US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, with crypto advisor Patrick Witt saying an announcement may come “in the next few weeks.” His comments point to progress on custody and asset-protection work inside the executive branch, while also underscoring that Congress would still be needed to make the policy harder to reverse.
US Bitcoin Reserve Update May Come Within Weeks
Patrick Witt, a White House crypto advisor, said during Consensus 2026 in Miami on Wednesday that the administration has made substantial behind-the-scenes progress on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, or SBR, and the broader digital asset stockpile. The remarks add to comments Witt made days earlier at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas, where he said the administration was working through legal interpretations tied to bitcoin already held on the US government balance sheet.
“The President signed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Executive Order last year, and we’ve gone to work in figuring out exactly the machinations necessary and legal interpretations that we need to get that right and solidify that and protect the digital assets, but specifically Bitcoin, that we have on the government balance sheet,” Witt said at Bitcoin 2026. “So in the next few weeks, we’ll be making a big announcement. I think we have a bit of a breakthrough there, and obviously that needs to be followed up with legislation.”
That distinction is important for market participants watching the policy process. An executive-branch framework could shape how existing government-held bitcoin and other digital assets are managed, secured, and accounted for in the near term. A statutory framework, by contrast, would be more durable and harder for a future administration to unwind, which is why Witt’s reference to follow-up legislation remains central to the reserve’s long-term status.
White House Advisor Points to Custody Progress
At Consensus 2026, Witt linked the urgency around custody controls to a recent exploit involving assets held by the US Marshals. “So, as many of the folks in this room may have seen, there was an exploit of certain assets that were held by the US Marshals just a month or two ago. We obviously started the work on the SBR, the digital asset stockpile, without thinking about that, but obviously thinking about we need to properly secure these assets. So it’s a case in point for why it was so necessary that the President established the SBR and that he instructed the agencies to take these assets very seriously and properly safeguard them.”
JUST IN: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE JUST CONFIRMED A STRATEGIC #BITCOIN RESERVE ANNOUNCEMENT IS COMING “WITHIN WEEKS”
“TREMENDOUS PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE”
USA BUYING MORE BTC. MATTER OF TIME 🚀 pic.twitter.com/9etU6SDBAb
— The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) May 6, 2026
The exploit Witt referenced appears to relate to the alleged theft tied to John Daghita, also known online as “John” or “Lick.” Blockchain investigator ZachXBT connected the “John/Lick” persona to wallets moving funds linked to US government-controlled crypto addresses, while TRM Labs later said Daghita was arrested in Saint Martin in a joint operation involving the French Gendarmerie and the FBI. TRM said authorities alleged he stole cryptocurrency from wallets associated with the US Marshals Service.
TRM’s summary said part of the traced activity involved cryptocurrency seized in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The firm said approximately $24.9 million of the traced funds originated from a US government-controlled wallet, while ZachXBT alleged that Daghita stole more than $46 million in seized crypto assets by abusing access at CMDSS, his father’s company, which held a US Marshals Service contract. Witt framed the incident as an example of why digital asset custody requires specialized controls: “Custody is unique for digital assets. So we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress that’s kind of happened in the background and we’ll be making an announcement in the next few weeks, you know, laying out exactly the progress that’s been made and where we’re going from here.”
AI Transparency Note: This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI system based on the sources listed and was reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. All quotes, data points, and factual claims are intended to be grounded in the cited source material; however, errors cannot be ruled out entirely.