Strategic Bitcoin Reserve stalls amid Treasury-Commerce turf dispute
Regulation & Gov ·
Trump's plan for a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has hit a bureaucratic snag, with federal agencies disagreeing over which department holds legal authority to run it, according to Bloomberg.
The dispute centers on the Treasury and Commerce departments, both of which are vying for control over implementation, per the same Bloomberg reporting cited by Cointelegraph. The disagreement raises unresolved questions about Treasury's legal authority to hold or manage bitcoin under existing statutes, a jurisdictional gap that officials are reportedly working to address, as detailed by The Block.
Because no single agency has clear statutory footing to operate the reserve, officials are said to be exploring alternative governance structures rather than proceeding under a single department's existing mandate. That search for a workaround suggests the reserve's basic operating framework — who custodies the asset, who sets policy, and under what legal basis — remains undecided even as the initiative has been publicly championed by the administration.
The jurisdictional fight is not the only obstacle. Democrats have also sought to influence the control mechanisms attached to any reserve structure, adding a political dimension to what is otherwise described as an interagency legal dispute. Separately, Trump has said he became "a big crypto guy" partly for political reasons, underscoring the reserve's status as a signature policy initiative even as its administrative mechanics remain unresolved.
The reserve plan's uncertain footing comes as Trump has also floated the idea that so-called Trump Accounts could eventually include bitcoin holdings, a suggestion that points to broader ambitions for government-linked bitcoin exposure beyond the reserve itself. Coverage of the interagency dispute has been picked up across multiple outlets, including wublockchain.xyz, reflecting wider attention to the story.
What remains unresolved is which department will ultimately be granted authority, what legal mechanism will resolve the Treasury jurisdiction question, and whether the alternative governance structures under consideration will satisfy both the administration's goals and the political concerns raised by Democrats. No timeline for resolution has been reported.