Trump Administration to Announce National Bitcoin Reserve in Coming Weeks
Executive Director of the Presidential Council on Digital Assets Patrick Witt stated that work on inventorying and centralizing confiscated BTC in the US government reserve has been underway for several months.
The gist: what's really happening
Patrick Witt's announcement at Consensus Miami 2026 is not just a bureaucratic promise of "an announcement in the coming weeks." It is the final chord of a months-long behind-the-scenes battle between three centers of power: the White House Digital Assets Council, the Treasury, and Congress. And the Treasury has already lost this battle.
Witt publicly confirmed what insiders had been whispering since February: the SEC and Treasury no longer control US crypto policy. It is controlled by the Digital Assets Council, which reports directly to the president. When Witt says "we have put the house in order" and mentions cold wallets found in desk drawers of various agencies, that is not a colorful metaphor. It is a direct reference to the case of John Dagita, arrested in March on Saint Martin for stealing $46 million from US Marshals Service crypto wallets. This incident, which nearly cost the state tens of millions of dollars, gave the Council carte blanche to forcibly centralize all digital assets of federal agencies.
But the main intrigue runs deeper. The Trump administration is preparing to announce not just the creation of a reserve, but a mechanism for replenishing it beyond confiscations—and here begins a turbulent zone, because the Treasury, led by Scott Bessent, publicly rejects the idea of buying bitcoin on the open market.
Timeline and context
March 7, 2025—the date it all began. Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and a separate Digital Reserve for altcoins. The order did two things: stopped the "fire sale" of confiscated cryptocurrency practiced by the Biden administration, and launched an audit of digital assets across all federal agencies.
Summer 2025 marked the first conflict. The White House's 168-page crypto policy report contained no mention of an acquisition plan. In August, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent firmly stated that the government would not buy additional bitcoin; the reserve would only be replenished through confiscations. This was a victory for fiscal conservatives.
Then two events turned the situation around. The first—a hack on the Marshals' wallets in late 2025, uncovered by on-chain detective ZachXBT. The damage exceeded $60 million. The second—Dagita's arrest in March 2026, confirming that the funds were stolen due to egregious negligence in storage.
These two incidents gave Witt and the Council an irrefutable argument: "Do you see what happens when we don't manage this centrally?" From that moment, Treasury's resistance was broken. In April 2026, Witt at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas first used the word "breakthrough" to describe the upcoming announcement. And on May 6 in Miami, he gave a specific timeline: "a few weeks."
Meanwhile, in Congress, Senator Cynthia Lummis is pushing the BITCOIN Act, and Congressman Nick Begich renamed his version the American Reserves Modernization Act (ARMA) to broaden bipartisan support. The law would require the Treasury to buy 200,000 BTC annually for five years and hold them for at least 20 years. That's 1 million BTC—roughly $81 billion at current prices.
Who wins and who loses
Early bitcoin holders win—that's obvious. But the gains are unevenly distributed. The main beneficiaries are not retail investors but institutional funds that entered BTC in 2023-2025 via ETFs. When the US government announces the reserve, bitcoin's legitimacy as a reserve asset will increase by an order of magnitude, and institutional capital inflow will accelerate. Analyst estimates: $100 to $250 billion in new money within 12 months of the announcement.
US mining companies win. ARMA and the BITCOIN Act contain provisions for priority use of bitcoin mined in the US to replenish the reserve. CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, and Marathon Digital will get guaranteed government demand for their product. By my estimates, this will add 15-20% to their EBITDA in 2027.
The Treasury and Scott Bessent personally lose. His August statement "we will not buy bitcoin" now looks like a political mistake. The Digital Assets Council bypassed the Treasury by building direct relations with Congress through Lummis and Begich. If the BITCOIN Act passes, the Treasury will be forced to buy BTC—regardless of what its head thinks.
Central banks of countries hostile to the US also lose. Iran, North Korea, Russia—they have all used cryptocurrencies for years to evade sanctions. Creating the SBR means the US will control a significant share of global BTC supply and, more importantly, gain a tool to track and potentially block transactions it deems threatening to national security.
What the media isn't saying
First non-obvious fact: Witt's announcement is not just information. It is a signal to Congress to speed up passage of the BITCOIN Act. Witt didn't accidentally say: "This should always be accompanied by proper legislation." The administration is steering Congress toward the moment when the law must be passed, because without it, any Trump executive order could be overturned by the next president with a stroke of a pen.
Second insight: the "budget-neutral strategies" mentioned in the executive order are not an abstraction. According to my data, the Council is working on a scheme where the Treasury would buy bitcoin through the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF). The ESF has assets of about $100 billion, and its operations do not require congressional approval. This would allow purchases to begin before the BITCOIN Act is passed—and present Congress with a fait accompli.
Third: the $60 million stolen from the Marshals was not just money. It was cryptocurrency seized from darknet markets and hackers. The fact that the government couldn't even protect confiscated criminal assets became a toxic argument that the Council used to consolidate power. Essentially, the Marshals' cybersecurity failure became the best lobbyist for the SBR.
Fourth point that goes unmentioned: China. The People's Bank of China, according to Chainalysis, holds about 190,000 BTC in wallets seized from the PlusToken case. US estimates range from 198,000 to 328,000 BTC. The race is already on, and Witt knows it. When he talks about "putting the house in order," he also means consolidating assets to match Chinese holdings.
Forecast: next 30 days and 90 days
30 days (by June 8, 2026):
Witt's announcement will occur between May 26 and June 7. I estimate a 65% probability of the announcement before the end of May. What the announcement will contain: first, the exact number of consolidated BTC (in the range of 200,000–250,000); second, details of the custodial solution (most likely Anchorage Digital or Fidelity Digital Assets as provider); third, the mechanism for replenishing the reserve.
The key point is whether Witt mentions the Exchange Stabilization Fund as a purchasing tool. If yes, bitcoin will break $85,000 within a day. If the announcement is limited to consolidating confiscated assets without a purchase plan, the market reaction will be muted: a rise to $83,000 and a subsequent correction to $79,000.
Meanwhile, in Congress, a hearing on the BITCOIN Act will be held in the Senate Banking Committee. The hearing is scheduled for May 20-22. I expect the committee to approve the bill by a margin of 3-4 votes and send it to the Senate floor for a vote in July.
90 days (by August 7, 2026):
By August, the balance of power in US crypto policy will be clear. Base scenario (55% probability): the BITCOIN Act passes the Senate but stalls in the House due to disputes over budget neutrality. In response, the administration launches a limited purchase program through the ESF—50,000 BTC per year. Bitcoin trades in the range of $88,000–$95,000.
Alternative scenario (30% probability): the BITCOIN Act passes both chambers and lands on Trump's desk. This triggers a rally above $100,000. A domino effect begins: Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland, already studying the issue, accelerate creation of their own reserves. Sovereign demand for bitcoin becomes a structural market factor.
Negative scenario (15%): resistance from Democrats and fiscal conservatives in Congress delays the BITCOIN Act until the 2026 elections. In response, the administration limits itself to consolidating confiscated BTC without new purchases. Bitcoin corrects to $72,000–$75,000 on market disappointment.
For investors: any Witt announcement containing the word "purchase" or a hint of the ESF is a signal to increase positions in BTC and US miner stocks. If the announcement consists only of the words "consolidation" and "custody," buy on the correction because the fundamental shift has already occurred, and legislative codification of the reserve is only a matter of time. Follow Witt's Twitter account and the Senate Banking Committee hearing schedule—these are the two main indicators for the next 90 days.
— Editorial Team
