More than a year after President Donald Trump signed a March 2025 executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the project remains unbuilt and two cabinet departments are now fighting over it. The plan originally intended to house the reserve inside the U.S. Treasury Department, but conversations have pivoted to putting it inside the Commerce Department, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The dispute is not just bureaucratic pride, given that a central concern is whether the Treasury Department is legally able to manage the crypto trove at all, a question that has landed with government lawyers. The Justice Department, on the other hand, has said:

“The Office of Legal Counsel is working closely with both the Treasury and Commerce departments to determine legally available options to accomplish the president’s policy of establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.”

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston also highlighted that the administration is still committed to the project, adding:

“President Trump campaigned on a vision of cementing America as the global capital of cryptocurrency and other cutting-edge technologies. To deliver on the president’s vision, the Trump administration continues to evaluate the best structure for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.”

Beyond the question of which department holds the keys, officials are reviewing whether the federal government can legally hold bitcoin for an extended period. Trump’s executive order directs the reserve to retain its bitcoin rather than sell it, but because the asset’s price can rise and fall sharply, officials are examining whether keeping it indefinitely could create legal or operational problems.

The stakes are considerable given the U.S. government holds more than 300,000 BTC, worth roughly $21 billion at current prices, accumulated primarily through criminal and civil asset seizures. The executive order capitalized the reserve with those forfeited coins, deliberately avoiding any taxpayer cost (but it left the operational details, from custody to accounting, for the agencies to work out).

That work is happening under the eye of White House chief crypto adviser Patrick Witt, who has signaled that the reserve’s structure remains under active review. Meanwhile, lawmakers including Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) have sponsored legislation to codify the reserve, arguing that an executive order alone can be undone by a future president and that a durable reserve needs an act of Congress.

In any case, the delay is an awkward look for an administration that has made digital assets a signature issue. Trump has repeatedly promised to make America the crypto capital of the world, and said just Monday that China would seize the crypto lead if the U.S. stepped back from the industry.

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