US President Orders Creation of Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile

The White House has issued an executive order establishing a national Strategic Bitcoin Reserve alongside a separate United States Digital Asset Stockpile ¹. Signed on March 6, 2025, the presidential directive mandates that the federal government consolidate its forfeited cryptocurrency reserves and halts unilateral agency liquidations of seized $BTC ¹.

Under the directive, the Department of the Treasury will oversee custodial accounts for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which will be capitalized by all BTC legally forfeited through civil or criminal proceedings and not required for statutory restitution ¹. Crucially, the order specifies that deposited BTC cannot be sold and must instead serve as national reserve holdings ¹. For non-BTC digital assets, the Treasury will establish the United States Digital Asset Stockpile to manage holdings responsibly under existing legal authorities ¹.

Acquisition Mandate and Agency Deadlines

The order instructs the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to formulate strategies to acquire additional BTC, with the explicit restriction that any purchases must remain budget-neutral and generate no incremental taxpayer costs ¹. Conversely, agencies are prohibited from acquiring non-BTC stockpile assets outside of asset forfeitures or regulatory penalty settlements without further legislative or executive authorization ¹. Exceptions to the general prohibition on selling government digital assets remain limited to restitution for verifiable victims of crime, law enforcement operational funding, equitable state-level sharing, or specific statutory requirements ¹.

All federal agencies have 30 days from the date of the order to deliver an accounting of their digital asset holdings to the Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets ¹. Agencies must also complete an authority review regarding transfers into the reserve within the same 30-day window ¹. Within 60 days, the Treasury must submit an assessment covering custodial architecture, investment considerations, and potential statutory legislation required to maintain the program ¹. At the time of writing, $BTC was trading at $83,711.