Patrick Witt leaves White House crypto policy office without a named successor

Patrick Witt, the last crypto adviser running the White House's digital assets policy office, has departed, leaving the president's in-house crypto initiatives without a named successor, according to CoinDesk. A White House official told CoinDesk on Thursday that Witt's work was appreciated and wished him "the best of luck in the future endeavors."

Work began several weeks before Trump returned to office in 2025, when the president-elect named David Sacks, a former PayPal executive, as his incoming AI and crypto czar. Trump tapped Bo Hines as the first director of the digital assets advisory council, initially a one-person effort that later added a deputy. Hines became the White House's public face on crypto, taking meetings with industry figures and appearing on event stages. His tenure of about eight months closed with the GENIUS Act's passage into law, celebrated at a White House signing; less than two weeks later the administration published a comprehensive crypto agenda.

The White House says the legislative piece remains live, and the official said 'Crypto and Clarity Act will continue to be a priority for the president.' That bill failed 49-50 in the Senate, as this publication reported, leaving the SEC and CFTC to write the interim rulebook. Some on Capitol Hill continue to suggest the final weeks of the congressional session after November's elections could still produce legislative action for the industry, according to CoinDesk.

Treasury's first GENIUS Act rulemaking, which proposes definitions that will determine which stablecoin issuers face U.S. rules, is already in motion, so a vacant White House post does not stop agency work. Whether the vacancy changes the substance of U.S. crypto policy, rather than its public advocacy, is not established by a staffing change alone.