Quick Insights

  • White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt told Bitcoin 2026 that a major Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announcement is coming within weeks, describing progress as a "breakthrough."
  • The announcement will cover custody, agency coordination and legal interpretation under existing executive authority — but Witt stressed legislation is still needed for permanence.
  • Rep. Nick Begich confirmed reserve legislation will be reintroduced as the American Reserves Modernization Act, or ARMA, developed with Sen. Lummis and the House Financial Services Committee.
  • Sen. Lummis confirmed the Clarity Act is heading for a May Senate markup, making this the most active period for US crypto legislation since the GENIUS Act passed in 2025.

The White House is preparing a major policy announcement on the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Patrick Witt, executive director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said Monday at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas that the administration has reached a breakthrough on the executive-branch side of the policy. He expects to go public with the details within weeks.

The work centres on questions left open by Trump's March 2025 executive order. That order established the reserve, directed that forfeited government Bitcoin shall not be sold, and told Treasury and Commerce to develop budget-neutral acquisition strategies. It did not specify how custody would work, how assets would sit on the government balance sheet, or how agencies holding seized Bitcoin would coordinate with the reserve structure. Those are the gaps Witt said the administration has been closing.

Witt Says Executive Branch Can Move on Custody and Legal Framework Now

"In the next few weeks, we'll be making a big announcement. I think we have a bit of a breakthrough there, and obviously that needs to be followed up with legislation."

— Patrick Witt, Executive Director, President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets

Witt was careful to frame the announcement as a step forward, not the finish line. Executive orders can be reversed by future administrations. Getting custody and legal interpretation right matters, but only legislation makes the policy structurally permanent. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the specifics.

ARMA Bill to Be Reintroduced in Weeks With Revisions for a Better Path Through Congress

On a separate panel at the same conference, Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska confirmed that legislation to codify the reserve will be reintroduced in the coming weeks. It will carry a new name: the American Reserves Modernization Act, or ARMA. The bill builds on the BITCOIN Act that Sen. Cynthia Lummis first introduced in the 118th Congress and reintroduced in the current 119th Congress. Begich said his office has worked with Lummis's team and the House Financial Services Committee on revisions to improve its legislative path.
"We're trying to make sure that Bitcoin is treated like the reserve asset that it is," Begich said. "We want to make sure that we have a place to store our Bitcoin, that that Bitcoin is going to be held for a long period of time, that it's going to be prevented from being attached."
The renaming is intentional. Begich said the goal is to help both Congress and the public understand that ARMA is about reserve modernisation and long-term asset protection, not a speculative bet on a volatile asset.

What ARMA Is Designed to Do
  • Identify all Bitcoin held across federal government agencies and consolidate into a formal reserve structure
  • Place reserve holdings into responsible custody with clear legal protection
  • Restrict the ability to lend against reserve Bitcoin or subject it to shifting policy
  • Prevent the reserve from becoming a short-term political instrument by codifying it in statute rather than relying on executive order alone
  • Build on the existing BITCOIN Act framework, which proposed acquiring up to one million BTC over five years through budget-neutral strategies

Clarity Act Heads for May Markup as Crypto Policy Accelerates

The reserve developments sit inside a broader push on US crypto legislation. Sen. Lummis confirmed at Bitcoin 2026 that the Clarity Act is heading toward a May markup in the Senate and could reach the president's desk shortly after. The bill would establish rules for exchanges, wallet providers and developers, areas that have lacked a clear federal framework since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also spoke at the conference. He said the agency is preparing to launch innovation exemptions, allowing companies to test on-chain tokenisation and securitisation tools in a regulated environment. That work connects directly to the DTCC's own tokenisation push, which has been gathering pace as traditional financial infrastructure moves toward on-chain settlement. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig reiterated his position that the commission will use the full force of the law against fraud and manipulation, consistent with the CFTC's recent enforcement action in the Polymarket insider trading case.

Whether the coming White House announcement covers custody standards, balance sheet treatment, or inter-agency coordination, it will arrive at a moment when the legislative and regulatory infrastructure around Bitcoin is moving faster than at any point since the ETF approvals. Markets are watching closely.

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