U.S. Efforts to Advance a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Face Legal Constraints: How to Balance Regulation and Innovation?

According to the latest reports, Patrick Witt, Director of the White House Crypto Committee, stated that efforts to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve are still underway but are constrained by certain obscure and complex legal provisions, as well as challenges in cross-agency coordination. At present, the Department of Justice and the Office of Legal Counsel are actively discussing the relevant legal and regulatory issues, and the matter remains classified as a policy priority.

These remarks highlight the significant challenges the United States faces as it explores the inclusion of mainstream crypto assets within a national strategic reserve framework—challenges spanning legal structures, regulatory coordination, and policy implementation.

The Evolution of the Global Regulatory Environment: From Restriction to Standardization

In recent years, regulatory approaches to crypto assets across multiple jurisdictions have undergone continuous adjustment, gradually shifting from early-stage restrictive policies toward more standardized and controlled regulatory frameworks. As a key participant in the global crypto market and financial system, U.S. policy direction not only shapes domestic market dynamics but also sends strong signals to global regulatory trends.

Whether digital assets such as Bitcoin should be incorporated into national reserve systems is, in essence, a comprehensive assessment of their legal status, market stability, and capacity for macro-level risk management. Regulators are concerned not only with price volatility and market liquidity but also place greater emphasis on compliance, traceability, and the boundaries of financial security—prerequisites for acceptance within macroeconomic and monetary policy frameworks.

Compliance Monitoring: The Core Link Between Policy and Execution

As regulatory frameworks continue to mature, the central challenge in crypto asset governance is no longer simply whether assets are “permitted” or “prohibited,” but how to establish transparent, controllable, and traceable transaction and risk management systems that allow digital assets to operate within legal and compliant boundaries.

This trend is also reflected in regulators’ increasing focus on on-chain transaction behavior and transactional data. In practical compliance scenarios, institutions are often required to conduct comprehensive monitoring and screening of fund flows, transaction paths, and behavioral patterns—commonly referred to as KYT (Know Your Transaction) capabilities. Such mechanisms not only enable the identification of anomalous and high-risk activities but also provide policymakers with forward-looking risk insights.

At the implementation level, monitoring systems such as Trustformer KYT perform continuous risk scoring and behavioral analysis of on-chain transactions, enabling compliance teams to enhance transparency and strengthen risk prevention capabilities within complex regulatory environments.

Trend Outlook: Regulation and Innovation Must Advance in Parallel

While current U.S. efforts to advance a Bitcoin strategic reserve are constrained by legal conditions, they also reflect a broader trend: regulation and technological innovation must progress in parallel within the future digital asset ecosystem. Whether at the level of national strategy or market practice, long-term stability in crypto asset development can only be achieved when regulatory capabilities are strengthened and transaction transparency is enhanced.

This development also serves as a reminder to market participants worldwide to closely monitor policy evolution and continuously invest in compliance capability building—particularly in the areas of cross-border transactions, on-chain asset flows, and systemic risk governance.