White House to Outline Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Details
White House will outline Strategic Bitcoin Reserve plans in coming weeks as officials address custody and security after an alleged $46 million theft from U.S. Marshals’ crypto wallets.
The White House plans to publish more details on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the coming weeks, a senior administration official said at the Consensus Miami conference. The announcement will address custody and security arrangements after recent operational concerns.
Patrick Witt, a senior White House digital assets official, said officials have made “a lot of progress in the background” and will explain “where we are going.” He linked the timing of the briefing to an exploit that affected assets held by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The alleged theft, reported earlier this year, involved roughly $46 million in seized crypto and resulted in a March arrest in Saint Martin. The case prompted federal officials to review how agencies secure and transfer forfeited digital assets.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was created by executive order in March 2025. The order directs the federal government to retain Bitcoin obtained through forfeiture as a reserve asset rather than disposing of it through routine sales. It also established a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile for other cryptocurrencies and required agencies to inventory and review how those holdings should be managed and secured.
To date the reserve has not operated as a full accumulation program. The administration has said any plan to acquire additional Bitcoin must be budget-neutral, which would limit options to using seized coins or finding funding that does not require new congressional appropriations.
Officials are still identifying practical steps for implementation, including which agency would hold centralized custody, how audits would be carried out and how assets would be transferred from enforcement agencies into a consolidated stockpile. Witt said the administration has been coordinating behind the scenes and will set out operational details soon.
Market participants and policy observers are awaiting the public guidance to learn whether the reserve will function solely as an asset-management approach for forfeited property or take on a broader role. The upcoming announcement is expected to address custody arrangements, audit standards and the scope of future acquisitions.
