One year after President Donald Trump issued an order on March 6, 2025, to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the reserve has not been established and remains unimplemented at the one‑year mark. The order requested legislation to operationalize any aspect of the reserve, indicating that statutory action would be required to put it into effect. Some estimates place government bitcoin holdings at more than 300,000 BTC, with a combined valuation exceeding $20 billion.
The Treasury Department lacks the authorizations needed to build the specialized accounts required for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, leaving the administration without the administrative authority to operationalize the fund. The March 6, 2025 order requested legislation to operationalize any aspect of the reserve, indicating statutory action would be required. Because those authorizations are absent, any mechanism to create the specialized accounts would depend on Congress enacting enabling statutes. The order itself did not create new authorities or direct new government purchases of bitcoin.
The White House has said action must come from Congress and that legislation would have to be acted on by that body. Executive orders do not have the power of law, which limits the administration’s ability to unilaterally operationalize the reserve. Senator Cynthia Lummis has pitched reserve legislation, and sources identified the National Defense Authorization Act as the best chance to secure passage by year end if the proposal is inserted there. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the halt in progress, and the White House would likely need to re-prioritize the issue to advance it.
Public discourse included a rumor from Jim Cramer that the reserve would be filled when Bitcoin’s price hit $60,000, despite the absence of a designated place to store the coins and no identified funding to purchase them. The March 6, 2025 order did not authorize any new government purchases of bitcoin. Patrick Witt said there are “novel legal questions” that must be answered and he has not shared leading ideas for obtaining more bitcoin for the fund. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the halt in progress.
One year after the March 6, 2025 executive order, no significant progress has been made to establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve because the Treasury Department lacks the authorizations to create the required specialized accounts and legislative action from Congress is needed. Further progress would require Congress to enact enabling legislation and would likely need renewed prioritization by the White House.
