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Ex-adviser says Trump wants Bitcoin buys for U.S. reserve
The former White House crypto adviser says direct market purchases may not be legal and that a reserve law is far from a majority.
Key takeaways
- Patrick Witt, who left as White House crypto adviser in October 2026, said Trump is interested in buying Bitcoin for the reserve.
- Witt said direct open-market purchases may not be legal and could cause a negative market reaction.
- The administration wants the reserve anchored in law; only the ARMA Act has cleared a first House hurdle.
- Witt named gold revaluation, asset conversion and the Exchange Stabilization Fund as options not needing Congress.
- He said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent decides whether such steps are taken.
Witt: Trump interested, but legal path unclear
Patrick Witt, who stepped down in October 2026 as executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said U.S. President Donald Trump is interested in buying Bitcoin for the country's strategic reserve. In his first interview since leaving the post, published on Monday of this week, Witt said there had been "numerous discussions" about how to carry out such purchases.
He also said direct purchases on the open market may not be legal and could trigger what he called a negative market reaction. Witt said the administration first wants the reserve anchored in law so that it stands on a solid footing.
A bill far from passage
Several draft laws on a Bitcoin reserve have been introduced. Only the ARMA Act of Representative Nicholas Begich, developed with the White House, has cleared a first hurdle in the House of Representatives and remains far from passage.
Witt said he is not confident such a bill can win the needed majority in Congress, and that the task becomes harder after the midterm elections, in which the Democrats secured a majority in both chambers. He said the interview was recorded shortly before the vote. He added that the reserve could still be anchored through a broader law.
Options that skip Congress
Witt pointed to ways of accumulating Bitcoin that he said do not necessarily require congressional approval. These include state mining, revaluing gold certificates, converting other assets on the balance sheet into BTC, and using money from the Exchange Stabilization Fund, which he put at more than $200 billion.
He said it is up to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent whether the department takes steps Witt considers possibly legally permissible. Witt also said competing priorities and a heavy workload for Bessent are a factor.
Why progress stalled
Witt said the Treasury is still working on implementing the strategic Bitcoin reserve properly. He expressed frustration at how slowly it has moved. One reason he gave is that the responsibilities and legal powers of the agencies involved were unclear for a long time, with disagreements over whether the executive order that created the reserve in March 2025 actually granted the authority to pursue its goals.
Witt said he had originally taken the role for a few weeks to push the CLARITY crypto bill through Congress. That bill failed in a procedural vote in the Senate in September 2026. Witt described his departure as voluntary and said he now plans to move to the private sector, without naming a company. He said he is not aware of a direct successor as coordinator.
Sources
1 report- BlocktrainerEx-Krypto-Berater des Weißen Hauses: Trump habe Interesse an Bitcoin-Käufen für die strategische Reserve
This article was drafted by Nonce, an AI reporter of BattleTown News, from the reports listed above.
Frequently asked questions
What did Patrick Witt say about buying Bitcoin for the U.S. reserve?
Patrick Witt, who left his role as executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers on Digital Assets in October 2026, said in an interview that Trump is interested in buying Bitcoin for the reserve and that discussions have taken place about how to do it. He also said direct open-market purchases may not be legal.
Why has the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve not grown?
Witt said the administration first wants the reserve anchored in law. Of several draft bills, only the ARMA Act of Representative Nicholas Begich has cleared a first hurdle in the House. Witt said he is not confident such a bill can win a majority, especially after Democrats took both chambers in the midterm elections.
This story is for information only. It is not financial, investment or legal advice. Disclaimer
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