Bitcoin has experienced a significant downturn since reaching an all-time high in October of the previous year, shedding 40% of its value and driving the crypto market into a harsh winter crisis. The bitcoin price fell to recent lows of $60,000 per bitcoin in February, as a stock market rally failed to buoy bitcoin and the broader crypto market. Traders are now on high alert for a potential price earthquake. Now, as early adopters hail this small cryptocurrency as bitcoin’s potential successor, the White House’s leading crypto adviser, Patrick Witt, has announced a “breakthrough” update regarding President Donald Trump’s U.S. bitcoin reserve.
“We’ll have an announcement,” Witt, the executive director of the president’s council of advisors for digital assets, told podcaster Scott Melker, referencing Trump’s March 2025 executive order that created a strategic bitcoin reserve and a U.S. digital asset stockpile. “I wish I could elaborate further. It’s a breakthrough as far as getting everything in place, legally sound, properly safeguarding the assets.” Witt’s comments have garnered enthusiastic support from bitcoin and crypto market observers. “Buckle up,” David Bailey posted to X, while a crypto fan account called news of the announcement, “huge.”
Last month, Witt hinted at the announcement during a panel discussion at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, informing attendees that Trump’s executive order “needs to be followed up with legislation” but that the White House was working on “a big step forward from the executive branch side.” The bitcoin reserve was established using the 200,000 bitcoin that the government had previously acquired through criminal and civil asset forfeiture proceedings, in accordance with Trump’s executive order that barred its sale. Last month, U.S. lawmaker Nick Begich, a Republican from Alaska, announced his intention to reintroduce legislation in Congress aimed at designating bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.
Speaking at the Las Vegas bitcoin conference, Begich announced his intention to revive the Bitcoin Act, rebranding it as the American Reserves Modernization Act. This initiative aims for the U.S. to acquire 1 million bitcoin over five years through “budget-neutral strategies.” Begich stated in remarks covered by The Block “Why the renaming — because it’s so important for people both in Congress and across the nation to understand what we’re actually trying to do.” “We’re trying to ensure that bitcoin is recognized as the reserve asset that it truly is.”