US Treasury plans Bitcoin custody framework as cold wallet security draws scrutiny

The US Treasury is building a custody framework for the Bitcoin the federal government holds. The plan would combine self-custody with third-party custodians, rather than betting everything on one approach.

That sounds like back-office plumbing. It is. But when the asset in question is somewhere between approximately 198,000 BTC and more than 328,000 BTC, the plumbing matters a great deal.

What the Treasury is building

The custody effort is tied to a broader push to make federal agencies’ reporting on their Bitcoin holdings more accurate. In other words, Washington wants to know exactly what it owns and exactly where it sits.

The framework is designed to support two models at once. Self-custody means the government holds the private keys itself. Third-party custody means a specialized outside firm safeguards those keys on the government’s behalf.

The work also connects to a follow-up review of agency holdings. Under the original executive order, agencies had 30 days to review and report what Bitcoin they controlled. The newer review is aimed at improving the accuracy of those figures.

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve backdrop

All of this traces back to March 6, 2025. That day, an executive order, EO 14233, created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

The order allows the Treasury to manage forfeited Bitcoin and bars routine sales of those holdings. Sales are permitted only in limited circumstances.

The reserve pulls together coins acquired mostly through civil and criminal asset forfeitures. These are assets the government picked up through law enforcement actions, not through purchases on the open market.

The size of the stash is where things get fuzzy. Estimates run from approximately 198,000 BTC to over 328,000 BTC. The gap largely comes down to whether coins tied up in pending litigation are counted.

Cold wallets under the microscope

The custody push lands while the industry is paying closer attention to cold wallet security. A cold wallet stores private keys offline, typically on a dedicated hardware device, to keep them away from internet-based attacks.

Recent high-profile firmware issues in hardware wallets have complicated that reputation and pushed custodial practices back into the spotlight.

The Treasury’s initiative is focused on operational custody. It is not framed as a direct response to any outside breach.

Open questions on disclosure and acquisition

Patrick Witt, a senior crypto policy advisor, has indicated that discussions are ongoing about whether to publicly disclose the government’s specific holdings. That decision has not been made.

Witt is also exploring possible routes for acquiring more Bitcoin. Those options require further legal analysis before anything moves forward, and there is no consensus yet on how to approach them.

The reserve today is built from forfeitures. Any move to grow it through other means would need a legal foundation that, for now, is still being studied.

What this means

The no-routine-sales provision in EO 14233 already matters here. Historically, large government auctions of seized coins raised worries about supply hitting the market. A reserve that holds rather than sells changes that calculus, though the limited exceptions in the order mean the door is not fully shut.

The accuracy review may prove just as consequential. Until agencies settle on a reliable count, the range between approximately 198,000 BTC and more than 328,000 BTC will keep circulating. Pending litigation will continue to drive much of that uncertainty.