Trump Still Wants to Buy Bitcoin but a Legal Wall Stands in the Way: Witt

Former White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt says President Donald Trump is still interested in buying bitcoin for the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but open-market purchases face a serious legal problem.

“The President’s Interested in It”

Witt, who stepped down as executive director of the White House crypto council in October for the private sector, made the remarks on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, stating:

I can tell you the president’s interested in it. There has been a lot of discussion about how we might be able to do that.

A March 2025 executive order created the reserve, pooling bitcoin the government had already seized and telling the Treasury and Commerce departments to find acquisition strategies that are “budget neutral.” No such strategy has been made public, and no open-market purchase has been announced.

The Legal Wall

Witt was candid about the obstacle, saying:

” [It is] of questionable legality whether or not there could be outright open market purchases because Congress controls federal spending.”

Lawmakers have already moved to close the door, and Witt said that concerns about purchases “led Congress to actually put a rider in the NDAA that says you cannot do this,” referring to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). “We’re trying to get to the place where it is permitted and where the authority is granted,” he added.

Making the reserve permanent is an even steeper climb, with Witt noting:

It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be really hard. Passing a standalone bill around that is going to be incredibly difficult with a divided Congress.

Lastly, he said he would struggle to imagine Democrats passing such a measure, and warned that without legislation the reserve rests on executive orders a future president could reverse. Repealing a predecessor’s orders, he warned, is “one of the first things they do.”

The Political Map Just Got Tougher

The interview came days after the Nov. 3 midterms, in which the Democrats won both chambers of Congress. Galaxy Research has since flagged new risks for the industry, and Bitcoin.com News reported that Elizabeth Warren, one of crypto’s toughest critics, is set to chair the Senate Banking Committee.

The White House has also been reviewing SEC crypto rules in the wake of the vote, while the CLARITY Act itself is stalled in the Senate.

Not everyone has given up on the reserve, though, and Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor linked wins from both parties to bitcoin reserves after the election, arguing that support for sovereign bitcoin holdings goes beyond party lines.

Why Bitcoin Traders Are Listening

The comments land as bitcoin struggles have continued to mount, with the asset trading near $73,600 on Nov. 11 after crashing to $72,787 on a hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer price index (CPI) print, which pushed rate markets toward pricing in a December Federal Reserve hike.

Any sign that Washington could become a buyer would be a major catalyst. Other signs to watch out for would be any guidance from the Treasury on budget-neutral acquisition methods, the fate of the NDAA rider in the next defense bill, and whether a lame-duck Congress takes up digital asset legislation before Democrats take control in January. Interesting times ahead, to say the least.