White House Crypto Council: Four People in 14 Months, All Gone
- Key Takeaways: With the departure of its last staff member, Patrick Witt, upon the expiration of his secondment, the White House crypto council now has no one on staff. Its core legislative push, the CLARITY Act, has stalled in the Senate, and the center of gravity for advancing crypto policy is shifting from legislation to independent rulemaking by regulators such as the SEC and CFTC.
- Key Details:
- Witt left on October 14 when his secondment expired; Hines, Sacks, and Jung had already departed in August 2025, March 2026, and July 2026, respectively—four departures in 14 months.
- The CLARITY Act was blocked in a Senate procedural vote on September 15, failing 49 to 50, 11 votes short of the 60-vote threshold. Democrats opposed it unanimously, with the dispute centering on ethics provisions concerning the Trump family's crypto assets.
- The bill had previously passed the House 294 to 134 and the Senate Banking Committee 15 to 9, but it still has not entered substantive debate. With less than three weeks left in the session, passage is essentially hopeless.
- The White House has not announced a successor, and at a time when negotiations require executive branch coordination, the crypto council has no one on staff.
- The SEC has proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, setting a startup exemption of up to $5 million and two tiers of fundraising exemptions at $20 million and $75 million, with the comment period open until October 20.
- Regulatory rules are not as durable as laws and could be entirely overturned by the next administration, leaving the industry's "clarity" dependent on regulators rather than Congress and thus uncertain.
Original | Odaily (@OdailyChina)
Author | jk
On October 14, the secondment of Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, expired. The White House did not announce a successor, and he was also the last remaining staff member of the council.
Previously, Executive Director Bo Hines had departed in August 2025, White House AI and Crypto Affairs lead David Sacks departed in March 2026, and Deputy Director Harry Jung departed in July 2026.
On September 15, the CLARITY Act was blocked in a Senate procedural vote by 49 to 50, and Witt was precisely the main driver of the bill on the White House side. His departure from the White House may be related to the bill's setback.
Secondment Expires, Position Left Vacant
On Wednesday, October 14, U.S. local time, a White House official told The Block that Patrick Witt's "secondment has expired." That evening, Witt posted on X that serving in the government was "the honor of a lifetime," and said he looked forward to continuing to advance the same mission in the private sector, but did not disclose his destination.
Previously, Eleanor Terrett, the journalist who hosts Crypto In America, had reported that Witt was in fact an employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, and that his position on the White House crypto council was temporary in nature. The White House subsequently confirmed the account that the secondment had expired.
Witt's official title was Executive Director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, commonly referred to by outsiders as the "White House Crypto Council."
Witt's departure letter, source: X
The White House did not specify a successor. An official told The Hill that cryptocurrency and the CLARITY Act "will continue to be priorities for the President." In his farewell post, Witt thanked Trump, David Sacks (whom he called a mentor), and regulatory officials including SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, and noted that the GENIUS Act had already passed while the CLARITY Act remains a legislative priority.
Four Departures in Succession: The Council's Personnel Trajectory
The council's core members departed in succession within 14 months: Executive Director Bo Hines left in August 2025 to join Tether; White House AI and Crypto Affairs lead (special government employee) David Sacks departed in March 2026 to become co-chair of PCAST; Deputy Director Harry Jung left the government in July 2026; and Executive Director Patrick Witt's secondment expired in October 2026, with him hinting at a move to the private sector.
Patrick Witt: From the Football Field to the Pentagon, Then to Crypto Policy
Witt's résumé differs from that of a typical crypto policy official. He graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School, served as the quarterback of the football team during his time at Yale, was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, and signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent.
During Trump's first term, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). After leaving, he served as a managing director at a small and mid-sized private equity firm.
After Trump's second term began, Witt entered the Department of Defense system. According to profiles by ETHDenver and BigWhale, he served from January to May 2025 as the acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, overseeing the defense technology system including DARPA, and headed the Department of Defense's Office of Strategic Capital. He was also a lawyer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the Georgia Army National Guard.
In August 2025, Hines departed, and Witt, then Deputy Director, took over as Executive Director. CoinDesk noted at the time that he did not have a significant crypto industry background when he took office, though neither did Hines. During his tenure, Witt's core task was to push the CLARITY Act through the Senate, and he also led the White House's work related to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. He said at Consensus 2026 that there would be major updates regarding the reserve. According to multiple media reports, he had also extended his White House tenure by several months beyond the original plan due to a delay in military training with the National Guard, in order to continue advancing the bill.
Bo Hines: A Policy "Springboard" and the Revolving Door
Bo Hines was the first Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council, appointed in December 2024 and departing in August 2025. Before entering government, he had been a college football player, a Republican congressional candidate, and a Yale-educated lawyer.
His tenure coincided with the passage and signing of the GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. During his tenure, he led the release of a 166-page policy report offering recommendations on areas including taxation, banking rules, and crypto regulation. On August 9, 2025, he announced his departure.
His subsequent destination sparked discussion of the "revolving door." On August 19, 2025, Tether announced it had hired him as a digital assets and U.S. strategy advisor; on September 12, Tether appointed him CEO of its U.S. operations, tasked with launching the U.S.-regulated dollar stablecoin USAT. Reports indicated that the USAT team is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Anchorage Digital serving as the issuer, and Anchorage also being a shareholder in the U.S. company. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Hines' deep understanding of the legislative process would be valuable for Tether's entry into the U.S. market. Bankless commented that the top position at the White House Crypto Council "looks more like a springboard than just a policy role."
Hines' tone during his tenure was industry-friendly; in his departure statement, he mentioned that the team had made the U.S. the "crypto capital," consistent with the line he had always taken in his résumé.
David Sacks: The Council's De Facto Helmsman
David Sacks is a venture capitalist, tech entrepreneur, and podcast host, co-founder of Craft Ventures, and remains a partner at the firm. He was appointed White House AI and Crypto Affairs lead at the start of Trump's second term, the first person to oversee both domains simultaneously.
His status was that of a "special government employee" (SGE), legally permitted to serve at most 130 days per 12 months, not necessarily consecutively. This allowed him to retain his private-sector work but also drew criticism: TechCrunch reported that he received an ethics waiver to retain his financial interests in AI and crypto companies, an arrangement criticized by ethics experts and lawmakers. In addition, he actually served for more than a year, and questions had previously been raised about how his 130-day cap was calculated.
In March 2026, Sacks said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that he had "used up" that time, and subsequently moved to become co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), co-leading with Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; PCAST members include tech figures such as Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreessen.
On the White House Crypto Council, Sacks was the line that could report directly to the President. When Hines departed, he said on X that the White House had a deep talent pool, with Witt and Jung ready to take over and push the CLARITY Act through. Now both of them have also left.
Harry Jung: From the CFTC to the White House
Harry Jung's background leans toward regulation and compliance. According to a résumé compiled by IQ.wiki, he holds a Juris Doctor from Michigan State University College of Law, began his career as an examiner in member regulation at FINRA, and subsequently worked at Citigroup, rising to Senior Vice President in the Office of the CEO (March 2020 to July 2023).
In 2023, he joined the CFTC as a senior policy advisor to then-Commissioner Caroline Pham. In January 2025, after Pham became Acting Chairman, she appointed Jung as Acting Chief of Staff, putting him in charge of the CFTC's engagement with the crypto, DeFi, and digital asset industries.
In June 2025, Jung joined the White House Crypto Council, first as a senior policy advisor, and was promoted to Deputy Director in August of the same year, taking over Hines' work alongside Witt. In July 2026, he announced he would leave two weeks later. According to Phemex's reporting at the time, Jung had originally been set to perform Witt's duties during Witt's military leave, and his departure left that backup arrangement unfulfilled.
Legislation Stalled, No One at the White House to Take Over
After Witt's departure, there is no longer anyone on the White House side to interface on this bill, and the CLARITY Act has yet to emerge from the Senate.
On September 15, the Senate voted on a "motion to proceed to debate" on the CLARITY Act, with 49 in favor and 50 against, falling short of the 60-vote threshold. All Democratic senators opposed it, along with several Republican senators. The focus of the debate was the ethics provisions related to the Trump family's crypto assets, and whether stablecoins can pay interest. According to DLA Piper's assessment, the likelihood of Congress restarting the bill in the remainder of the current session is low, and the next window may not come until January 2027.
On the executive branch side, the White House Crypto Council, which was supposed to coordinate negotiations, no longer has a single person in office. From Bo Hines to Patrick Witt, the council took 14 months to see off all four of its core members, and subsequent arrangements will have to wait until after the midterm elections are completed.
