The Trump administration’s plan to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has been complicated by two government departments vying to run it, alongside questions about which has the legal authority to do so.

President Donald Trump ordered the reserve to be created last year as part of his promise to turn America into the “crypto capital of the world.” His plan intended to have it housed inside the U.S. Treasury Department, with the Bitcoin coming from asset seizures conducted by different parts of the federal government, along with possible new purchases.

However, a concern arose about whether the Treasury Department was legally able to manage the crypto trove, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Now, multiple parts of the administration are involved in crafting a plan to ensure the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is legally viable. Putting it inside the U.S. Commerce Department is one possibility, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. An overarching issue is whether the Bitcoin can be housed indefinitely, as the executive order intended, given the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency.

“President Trump campaigned on a vision of cementing America as the global capital of cryptocurrency and other cutting-edge technologies,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement on Monday. “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.”

The Justice Department said in a statement that its 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.”

Spokespeople for Treasury and Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. Trump had ordered the two departments to jointly develop strategies for buying more Bitcoin in budget-neutral ways.

The internal competition and legal quandaries have affected what’s intended to be a major pillar of the Trump administration’s pro-crypto agenda.

The U.S. government is one of the largest owners of Bitcoin globally when adding up all the components, worth more than $20 billion at current prices, according to Arkham Intelligence. The original cryptocurrency hit an all-time high in October, driven partly by enthusiasm about Trump, but is down nearly 50% since then.

The White House has said that premature sales of Bitcoin have cost taxpayers some $17 billion over the years, and that combining it into one reserve that holds Bitcoin indefinitely would give the country a strategic advantage.

“I am very positive and open minded to cryptocurrency companies, and all things related to this new and burgeoning industry,” the president said in a fact sheet related to his March 2025 order. “Our country must be the leader in the field.”

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