Washington Can't Buy Bitcoin Without Congress, Ex-White House Crypto Chief Warns

The U.S. government can't just go shopping for Bitcoin. Patrick Witt, former executive director of the White House Crypto Council, said on the November 10, 2026 episode of What Bitcoin Did that explicit congressional authorization is required before Washington can legally buy coins on the open market. President Donald Trump is interested in growing the government's stack, according to Witt. But officials still haven't sorted out how to buy without spooking the market.

Witt's team wanted Congress to codify the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and sign off directly, he said. Since Congress controls appropriations, any purchase would have to be shown to fit the original purpose of existing funds. He also flagged the risk of acting too soon: a premature push could hand lawmakers a reason to bolt a ban on government Bitcoin purchases onto the National Defense Authorization Act, kneecapping the whole effort.

Witt joined the White House on a temporary basis to help move crypto legislation and ended up staying more than a year. He moved on after the market-structure bill stalled in the Senate. Early wins he pointed to included targeting what the administration called 'Operation Choke Point 2.0,' standing up the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and tightening custody of government-held digital assets. He called the GENIUS stablecoin law useful for softening skepticism toward crypto, while noting it wasn't a Bitcoin-specific measure.

The government's existing Bitcoin holdings haven't been audited to a high level of accuracy, Witt said, and agencies gave an initial response he described as uneven. Legal uncertainty, agency capacity and the audit's scope have all slowed the work. Past custody practices, in his telling, were seriously inadequate — cold wallets kept in drawers, plus an alleged theft involving assets held by the U.S. Marshals.

Secure custody comes first, Witt argued, and only then can officials responsibly weigh acquisitions or conversions. Ideas floated so far include repricing gold, tapping the Exchange Stabilization Fund, converting other government assets and accepting some receipts in Bitcoin. Direct market purchases remain the murkiest path legally, and Witt expects Treasury's custody work to be the foundation everything else rests on.

Witt framed Bitcoin as more than an investment, citing global peer-to-peer value transfer, a store of value against currency debasement and national-security uses. He cautioned that executive orders can be undone by future administrations. His office steered clear of pardon decisions, and he pressed for clear communication on quantum and cyber risks.