White House digital-assets advisor Patrick Witt confirmed that an official announcement regarding the United States Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) is forthcoming, calling the recent interagency progress a "breakthrough" in establishing a legally sound and operationally secure framework. Speaking in a May 17 interview, Witt explained that the work never ceased, even as the Clarity Act—a broader crypto market-structure bill—captured headlines. The executive order signed months earlier was merely "a starting gun," he said, and the upcoming announcement represents the culmination of the legal and custodial work it mandated.
The process involved drafting legal memos, confirming executive-branch authorities, and determining whether additional legislative backing is required. Harry Jong, Witt’s deputy, led the coordination alongside Stephen Miller’s team and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (DECOSP), the office responsible for overseeing the execution of all presidential executive orders. Witt emphasized that the work was not about beginning a new initiative but about completing the one the executive order started.
A key driver, Witt noted, was the theft of "tier-two crypto assets" from US Marshals Service custody—an incident that exposed the inadequacy of existing federal asset-safeguarding mechanisms for Bitcoin. The SBR framework, therefore, will prioritize custody and safeguarding, addressing a demonstrated vulnerability rather than a hypothetical one. This distinction matters for the market, as Witt did not confirm any plans for open-market Bitcoin purchases; instead, the immediate focus is on how already-seized Bitcoin is identified, secured, and separated from the broader US Digital Asset Stockpile.
Witt also stressed that executive actions are "very reversible," and that true permanence requires Congressional codification. He pointed to Senator Cynthia Lummis’ BITCOIN Act and Representative Nick Begich’s American Reserves Modernization Act (ARMA) as legislative vehicles that could embed the reserve into law. The reserve, Witt argued, is not an isolated project but part of a wider US effort to define the financial infrastructure it wants to lead—a stance that signals to the market that institutional sponsorship of Bitcoin is deepening. At press time, Bitcoin traded at $76,825.
