After Donald Trump's encryption advisor Patrick Witt left his position as President of the United States, a vacancy was created in the Digital Assets Office, and its policy objectives became less clear.
The departure of Witt is not surprising, but this means that the White House currently does not have a designated person in charge of digital asset policy.
The White House insists that cryptocurrencies remain a priority, but in its recent appointment of a new head of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies were not included in the responsibilities of that position as they had been before.
After returning to the White House last year, Trump not only abandoned his previous resistance to encryption technology but also embraced this industry by appointing a well-known "tsar" of encryption and establishing a President's Digital Assets Advisory Committee.
Nearly two years later, this policy push seems to have temporarily quieted down. The last crypto advisor responsible for that office, Patrick Witt, has already left his position. Meanwhile, when Trump recently appointed a new head of artificial intelligence, the role that was previously separated from cryptocurrency and AI, now no longer seems to include crypto responsibilities.
So, who exactly is in charge of encryption policy at the White House? It's not yet clear. Although there are still a few people on Capitol Hill who suggest that there may be progress in industry legislation during the last few weeks of the congressional session after the November elections, the White House still has a group of policy advisors, and the Trump administration has been pushing for several encryption regulatory measures at institutions such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, no one has been explicitly appointed to take over Trump's internal encryption projects yet.
A White House official told CoinDesk on Thursday that the work of Witt was “appreciated” and wished him “all the best in the future.” The official did not comment on who would succeed him.
The official said, " Crypto and Clarity Act will continue to be a priority for the president."
The White House has never had a large scale of work regarding digital asset policy, but these advisors sometimes speak with considerable influence, and their presence can provide important administrative endorsement for crypto initiatives. This work began in the weeks before Trump returned to the White House in 2025, when the then-elect president appointed former PayPal executive David Sacks as the incoming AI and the "tsar" of crypto.
Trump also appointed the little-known former college football player Bo Hines as the first director of the Digital Assets Advisory Committee – which was initially a one-person role, but later a deputy was added. Hines quickly became a familiar face of the White House in the crypto community, frequently meeting with industry insiders and appearing on event stages. His brief tenure of about eight months ended with a major victory for the industry in Congress: the guidance and establishment of the US Stablecoin National Innovation Act (GENIUS Act) officially became law.
Subsequently, the White House held a signing and celebration event, with many of the most prominent figures in the crypto industry sitting in the front row. Less than two weeks later, the government released a comprehensive crypto agenda detailing its plans to support the industry in the United States.
After contributing to the establishment of laws related to stablecoin issuers in the United States, Hines went on to take on the role of head of US operations for the stablecoin giant Tether. Meanwhile, the consulting firm Nxum that he co-founded with his father and another partner also received millions of dollars in payments, becoming a major service provider for a new super political action committee (Super PAC); this was first reported and disclosed by CoinDesk. This Super PAC is primarily funded by Cantor Fitzgerald, the US financial partner of Tether, and is led by an executive from Tether.
This week, The Wall Street Journal reported that during Hines's tenure at the White House working on GENIUS Act, their company Nxum received consulting service fees from Tether.
Hines's deputy in the advisory committee, Witt, subsequently took over as the new executive director. Witt was also a former football star but had more experience in Washington and became a key figure in promoting the Digital Asset Markets Clearing Act at the White House. During the negotiations that followed, Witt did not hide his sense of frustration, often venting his emotions on social media platform X, criticizing those he believed were hindering the Senate bill. The bill was intended to establish a regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto market.
During the legislative process, Sacks stepped down from his role as "tsar" in March, leaving Witt and his deputy Harry Jung to attempt to maintain the government's stance on cryptocurrencies. However, this task became complicated due to Trump's own extensive business interests in the cryptocurrency sector, and Democrats demanded that senior government officials not be associated with individual cryptocurrency interests.
As negotiations dragged on into later this year and elections approached, the White House made some concessions. It had originally planned to impose unprecedented ethical restrictions on the president's participation in digital assets, but Democrats felt that these agreements were still not sufficient.
In July, Witt confirmed that he was about to face military service with the Georgia National Guard, but he still stayed in his position to complete the negotiations for Clarity Act. Despite this, his deputy had already left to join Hines's Nxum. A month ago, the bill failed to advance in a full Senate vote, and subsequently, the Senate entered a longer recess to prepare for next month's elections.
This week, there were rumors that Witt had resigned, and around midnight on Wednesday, he posted a message to confirm his departure. He thanked the heads of various institutions and legislators who helped to advance Clarity, stating, "With regulators and elected officials like you, I can be confident that the future of digital asset innovation in the United States is bright." He also mentioned that he would be moving into the private sector.
Industry insiders in the encryption field say that they are also unsure with whom they will be dealing next, as their hopes for legislation regarding market structure have largely been dashed at present.
When Trump reappointed the head of AI earlier this month and appointed the former SEC chairman, who is now the director of the Intelligence Agency Jay Clayton, to lead its "Super Intelligence Force," that position no longer mentioned cryptocurrency elements. Although AI has some overlapping areas with cryptocurrency, Clayton does not have a smooth history with it; during his tenure as chairman of SEC, he was among the first to promote what later became known as "enforcement regulations."
