TL;DR:
- Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which holds over 300,000 BTC valued at approximately $21 billion, still lacks a defined operational structure.
- The Department of Justice is analyzing which agency can legally manage the fund, as multiple entities compete for control over it.
- Legislators such as Cynthia Lummis and Nick Begich are pushing a bill to shield the reserve from future changes in administration.
More than a year after Donald Trump signed the executive order creating the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the project still lacks a concrete operational form. According to Bloomberg, the Treasury and Commerce departments are competing to administer the fund, which holds more than 300,000 BTC accumulated primarily through seizures in criminal and civil cases.
The original decree pointed to the Treasury as the natural home of the reserve, but internal discussions reportedly shifted toward the Department of Commerce as an alternative. This dispute is not merely bureaucratic: the core of the debate centers on whether the Treasury has legal authority to manage crypto assets of this magnitude. The matter was referred to the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice, which stated it is working jointly with both agencies to determine the legally available options.
Bitcoin’s Volatility Is Also a Legal Problem
Beyond which department holds the keys, officials are studying whether the federal government can hold bitcoin indefinitely. The decree orders the assets not to be sold, but price volatility raises questions about whether maintaining that position over the long term could lead to legal or operational complications. The details of custody and accounting were deliberately left for the agencies to resolve, and that work has not yet been completed.
Patrick Witt, the president’s crypto adviser at the White House, oversees the process and has indicated that the structure of the Bitcoin reserve remains under review. In Congress, Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Nick Begich are promoting legislation to codify the reserve, arguing that an executive order can be reversed by a future president and that only an act of Congress guarantees its permanence.
The delay creates an uncomfortable image for an administration that made Bitcoin and digital assets one of its political banners. Trump reiterated that China would seize global leadership in the crypto industry if the United States stepped back, though so far the main obstacle has not come from abroad but from within his own cabinet.
