Overview
- More than 16 months after President Trump signed Executive Order 14233, a dispute between the Treasury and Commerce departments has stalled the reserve’s launch and left the Treasury’s required 60-day evaluation undelivered.
- The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is reviewing options for how the government can hold and manage the asset because officials have raised doubts that existing statutes clearly authorize long-term federal custody of bitcoin.
- The reserve is to be funded by forfeited bitcoin only and the order forbids sales and taxpayer-funded purchases, leaving growth dependent on law-enforcement seizures rather than open-market buys.
- On-chain trackers report the U.S. holds roughly 328,372 BTC worth roughly tens of billions of dollars, creating major operational needs for secure key custody, multisignature cold storage, audits and proof-of-reserve reporting.
- Congress has introduced rival bills, including the BITCOIN Act and ARMA, that would codify custody rules, set long holding periods and authorize acquisitions, but no legislation has passed and the program remains legally fragile.