US Treasury Builds Bitcoin Custody Plan Mixing Self-Custody and Outside Custodians

The US Treasury is assembling a custody framework for the Bitcoin the federal government holds, and it will not pick a single lane. The plan blends self-custody — Washington holding its own private keys — with third-party custodians that safeguard those keys on the government's behalf. The effort is tied to a broader push to sharpen how federal agencies report their Bitcoin holdings, so the government knows exactly what it owns and where it sits.

It all traces back to March 6, 2025, when executive order EO 14233 created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. That order lets the Treasury manage forfeited Bitcoin and bars routine sales, with sales allowed only in limited circumstances. The coins come mostly from civil and criminal asset forfeitures, not from open-market purchases.

How much is actually in the stash is where things get fuzzy. Estimates run from approximately 198,000 BTC to more than 328,000 BTC, a gap driven largely by whether coins tied up in pending litigation get counted. The original order gave agencies 30 days to review and report what Bitcoin they controlled, and the newer review is aimed at tightening those figures.

Patrick Witt, a senior crypto policy advisor, has signaled that talks are ongoing about whether to publicly disclose the government's specific holdings, and no decision has been made. Witt is also looking at possible routes for acquiring more Bitcoin, according to Crypto Briefing, but those options need further legal analysis and there is no consensus yet on how to proceed.

The custody push lands as the industry scrutinizes cold wallet security — offline storage, usually on dedicated hardware, meant to keep keys away from internet-based attacks. Recent high-profile firmware problems in hardware wallets have muddied that reputation and pulled custodial practices back into the spotlight. The Treasury's initiative is focused on operational custody and is not framed as a response to any outside breach.

The no-routine-sales provision already shifts the market math. Historically, big government auctions of seized coins fueled worries about supply flooding the market; a reserve that holds instead of sells changes that calculus, though the order's limited exceptions leave the door ajar. Until agencies settle on a reliable count, that 198,000-to-328,000 BTC range will keep circulating.