The Trump administration’s plan for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has run into legal and agency questions.
Summary
- Trump’s Bitcoin reserve plan faces legal questions over who can control seized government BTC holdings.
- Treasury was named in Trump’s order, but Commerce has emerged as another possible reserve manager.
- Custody, audits, and Congress remain central to the reserve framework debate.
Bloomberg reported that officials are still deciding which department can hold and manage the government’s Bitcoin.
The issue centers on whether the Treasury has clear legal authority to control a volatile digital asset as a federal reserve asset. The Commerce Department has also emerged as a possible home for the reserve, while the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel works with both agencies on a lawful structure. The review keeps the plan active, but it also shows that control of the reserve remains unsettled.
Treasury role faces legal review
Trump’s March 2025 executive order said the Treasury secretary should create an office to manage the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The order said the reserve would hold BTC forfeited through criminal or civil proceedings, including assets already controlled by federal agencies.
The order also said government BTC placed in the reserve should not be sold and should be kept as reserve assets. Still, the same order required Treasury to review legal and investment issues, including where the accounts should sit and whether new legislation was needed to operate the reserve.
White House says structure is still under review
A White House spokesperson told CoinDesk that the administration continues to evaluate the best structure for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.
“To deliver on the president’s vision, the Trump administration continues to evaluate the best structure,” Liz Huston said.
As previously reported by crypto.news, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said in May that officials had made progress on legal and custody safeguards. He called the work a “breakthrough” and said an announcement was expected in the coming weeks, though the latest report shows that the structure remains under review.
Congress and custody remain key questions
The latest report shows that the reserve still depends on more than a presidential order. As previously reported by crypto.news, the U.S. already has a Bitcoin reserve on paper, but the main question is whether it can become a working program with clear custody and purchase rules.
Lawmakers have also tried to turn the reserve into law. crypto.news previously reported that the American Reserve Modernization Act would create a Treasury-run Bitcoin reserve, require a 20-year holding rule, and call for audits, proof-of-reserve reports, and reviews of budget-neutral purchase methods. No federal bill has completed passage, leaving executive agencies to solve the custody issue for now.
BitcoinTreasuries data showed the U.S. government holding 328,372 BTC, worth about $20.7 billion as of July 7. The tracker ranks the U.S. as the largest known government holder of Bitcoin, ahead of China, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and El Salvador.
That large holding gives the reserve plan weight, but the new legal review shows the structure is not settled.
For now, the debate is not about buying more Bitcoin. It is about who can legally control seized BTC, how federal agencies should store it, and what rules should govern a reserve built from forfeited assets.
