During his 2024 U.S. presidential run, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve if he was elected for his second term in office after losing his reelection bid in 2020. He made the announcement at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, where he also promised to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.
A strategic bitcoin reserve effectively works similarly to the gold held by the United States at Ft. Knox. Bitcoin is thought to be “digital gold” that can hold its value over long periods of time and potentially act as a safe haven asset in times of global economic turmoil. Of course, others say this is all just a ploy to get votes from Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Once elected, Trump indeed signed an executive order regarding a number of crypto-focused policies, including the direction of a policy group to look into the establishment of a digital asset stockpile that could potentially include cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. Then in March, Trump signed an executive order regarding the establishment of a bitcoin reserve, in addition to a separate digital asset stockpile. The initial reserve would be established with bitcoin that had been seized as part of law enforcement proceedings, and the government would have the ability to add to the reserve via budget-neutral methods.
UPDATE: we have received confirmation from DOJ that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet have not been liquidated and will not be liquidated, per EO 14233. They will remain on the USG balance sheet as part of the SBR. https://t.co/v2GchC3vk8
— Patrick Witt (@patrickjwitt) January 16, 2026
Bitcoin associated with the cases against the developers behind privacy-focused bitcoin wallet Samourai Wallet, who unlike Trump-linked crypto exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao have not received a pardon, will be added to the reserve, according to President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets Executive Director Patrick Witt.
While one might assume any bitcoin proponent would be in favor of the reserve, there are plenty who are against it, especially if it’s being sourced from the work of open-source developers. For many Bitcoin purists, things like a de minimis tax exemption on bitcoin payments and protections for developers, which could be added through the CLARITY Act, take higher priority.
For now, the reality is the reserve has yet to be completely implemented nearly one year after Trump’s executive order, and not much information regarding its status was made available in 2025. That said, the finalization of the bitcoin reserve implementation is still a priority of the Trump administration, according to statements made by Witt in a recent interview with Crypto in America. Witt stated, “We’re continuing to push on that. It is certainly still on the priority list.”
Witt added that legal discussions around which agencies have the authority to implement the reserve have taken place, and there will be “more to come” on the bitcoin reserve front. While bitcoin proponents threw a large amount of support behind Trump in 2024, the focus from the Trump administration so far has been on more centralized aspects of crypto, namely stablecoin regulation via the GENIUS Act. Additionally, there’s been plenty of profiteering going on via Trump’s own affiliated businesses and alleged pay-for-play schemes.
🚨NEW: We asked Crypto Council Executive Director @patrickjwitt about how the White House is thinking about the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve these days.
“It is certainly still on the priority list right now.” pic.twitter.com/qWffEnAqQx
— Crypto In America (@CryptoAmerica_) January 16, 2026
While a bitcoin reserve has yet to be fully implemented and finalized at the federal level, some states are taking steps to get their own reserves put together as quickly as possible. According to Bitcoin Laws, three states—Arizona, New Hampshire, and Texas—have already enacted legislation for the creation of state-level bitcoin reserves, with Texas being the only state that has actively purchased bitcoin for their reserve. Multiple other states have bills in various stages of progress, including bills that were introduced in both Florida and West Virginia just this past week.
These sorts of reserves are part of the continued adoption and acceptance of bitcoin as a store of value and reserve asset by various types of trusted institutions around the world. This can also be seen at the nation state level with reserves established in El Salvador and Bhutan. Additionally, Morgan Stanley is creating its own bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) after seeing the success of Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust. Even state pension funds and university endowments, most notably Harvard’s, have made allocations to the crypto asset.