The United States has a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but it lacks authorization to buy Bitcoin.
Patrick Witt, a former executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said the administration needs explicit congressional authorization to buy Bitcoin on the open market for the reserve.
Speaking on a podcast on November 9, 2026, Witt set a clear legal limit on one of the crypto industry’s favored hopes: that the federal government would become a steady, deep-pocketed buyer.
Willing buyer, locked wallet
According to Witt, President Donald Trump remains interested in acquiring Bitcoin for the reserve.
The obstacle is a rider attached to the National Defense Authorization Act. It means open-market purchases would require explicit congressional approval and raises the question of whether buying without that approval would be legal.
Executive Order 14233 established the reserve on March 6, 2025. It is designed to hold Bitcoin the government obtains through federal forfeitures, rather than coins it purchases.
The order also instructed the Treasury and Commerce departments to explore acquisition strategies that would be cost-neutral, meaning they would not increase the cost to taxpayers. No such purchases have taken place to date.
Estimates of the government’s Bitcoin holdings range from 200,000 to 328,000 BTC, acquired mainly through seizures.
Congress has a bill. It isn’t law.
Legislation related to the reserve is advancing. The American Reserve Modernization Act, H.R. 8957, passed the House Financial Services Committee on September 16, 2026.
The vote was 28-21, divided along party lines.
The bill focuses largely on operations. It covers custody, sets a 20-year holding period for Bitcoin, and requires annual transparency reports.
The measure has not passed either the full House or the Senate.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has final authority over the reserve’s future. For now, efforts are focused on custody infrastructure and legal compliance, not new acquisitions.
Why an executive order isn’t enough
Witt also highlighted the political challenge of making the reserve permanent in a divided Congress. The central issue is durability.
A future administration could revoke an executive order with a stroke of a pen. A reserve founded on an executive order is only as secure as the outcome of the next election.
Legislation would alter that equation. Repealing a statute would require another act of Congress, a much higher hurdle than a new president issuing a new order.
Budget-neutral options discussed so far include gold revaluation and asset conversions. Both would require further Treasury review and action before anything could happen.
Gold revaluation would involve updating the accounting value of the government’s gold holdings, potentially making paper value available for other uses. Asset conversions would exchange existing holdings for Bitcoin. Neither option has advanced beyond the exploratory stage.
What this could mean for the market and the reserve
For investors, Witt’s comments temper a widely held expectation. The idea of Washington becoming an active Bitcoin buyer has circulated since the reserve was announced, but that outcome would require action on Capitol Hill.
The key developments to watch are clear. First, whether H.R. 8957 receives a House floor vote and, if it does, what form the bill takes.
Second, whether Treasury, under Bessent, advances any budget-neutral options beyond the review stage. Progress on gold revaluation or asset conversions would be the first concrete indication that acquisitions are back under consideration.
Third, whether lawmakers directly address the NDAA rider. Explicit authorization for purchases would be a much larger step than anything in H.R. 8957 at present, as that bill focuses on custody and holding rules.
Witt also noted the long-term political risk: if the reserve remains based solely on an executive order, a future administration could reshape or dissolve it.
