•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
More than a year after President Donald Trump’s executive order created the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, a senior White House figure said the administration has been working to define the reserve’s operational and legal framework—while the U.S. Treasury continues to rule out new Bitcoin purchases.
Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, told a panel at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas on Monday that the administration has spent months “figuring out” the legal interpretations needed to protect Bitcoin that would end up on the government balance sheet.
Witt said a “big announcement” is expected within weeks, describing it as a “breakthrough” the executive branch can deliver before Congress acts on legislation.
Witt’s remarks come as the Treasury has not reversed its stance against new Bitcoin purchases. The U.S. Treasury ruled out any new Bitcoin purchases since August last year, and it has not changed that position publicly.
In late July last year, the White House’s 168-page crypto policy report did not mention an acquisition plan. Weeks later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government would not purchase additional Bitcoin, limiting reserve growth to assets obtained through law enforcement seizures. Bessent has not publicly reversed that position since.
Industry commentary highlighted limits on what the executive branch can do without congressional action. Matthew Pinnock, chief operating officer at Altura DeFi, said the executive branch “lacks the authority to buy Bitcoin on the open market without congressional appropriation.”
Pinnock said the same constraint would narrow the scope of any announcement, adding that the president cannot authorize new Bitcoin acquisitions, build independent custody infrastructure, or bind a future administration because “any new spending requires congressional appropriation, and executive orders carry no legislative weight.”
He added that a next administration could reverse such steps “on day one with a stroke of a pen.”
On the same Monday panel, Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) said his House companion to Senator Cynthia Lummis’ BITCOIN Act will be reintroduced in the coming weeks under a new name: the “American Reserves Modernization Act.” He said the change follows discussions with the House Financial Services Committee aimed at broadening support among lawmakers.
Begich said Congress should “lock in the gains” of the current administration’s pro-Bitcoin stance before another administration can revisit the policy.
Pinnock said Bessent’s budget-neutral approach has made the Senate Banking Committee markup harder than it needed to be, removing what he described as “the bill’s most defensible argument to skeptical members.”
He also argued that announcements made on the crypto conference circuit—intended to “enhance” a partisan line—have had “almost no meaningful impact” on the reserve.
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
