Patrick Witt (@patrickjwitt) has left his role as the White House's top crypto adviser, as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate. A White House official said his
Patrick Witt (@patrickjwitt) has left his role as the White House's top crypto adviser, as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate. A White House official said his temporary assignment had expired, and no replacement has been named.
The official told The Block in an email on Wednesday that Witt's detail had ended, thanked him for his service to the administration and wished him well. Witt is a Department of Defense employee who served on loan as executive director of the White House Crypto Council, which coordinates President Donald Trump's digital asset policy. Asked who would take over the role, the White House did not respond.
Witt led the administration's push for broad crypto market structure legislation. The House passed its version of the bill on July 17, 2025, by a vote of 294 to 134. Witt then worked to guide negotiations in the Senate.
That effort hit a wall on September 15, when the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. The vote was 49 to 50, well short of the 60 needed to take up the bill. The main obstacles were disputes over ethics provisions covering federal officials' crypto holdings and over whether stablecoins can pay yield or rewards, which banks have opposed.
The bill is stalled rather than formally dead. It remains on the Senate calendar, and Senator Thom Tillis voted no so that he could enter a motion to reconsider, which keeps a path open to revive it. The next political milestone is the November 3 midterm elections, followed by the lame-duck session.
Witt is the third senior crypto official to leave the administration in 2026. David Sacks, the White House crypto and AI czar, left in March, and Witt's deputy, Harry Jung, departed in July. Witt took over the council in August 2025 after its first leader, Bo Hines, returned to the private sector.
With no named successor, the council has no clear senior lead at a time when the bill's backers are weighing how to restart talks. In the meantime, the SEC and CFTC are building an interim regime under their existing authority, according to law firm Orrick. Legal analysts note that agency rules are less durable than legislation, and that compliance, audit and tax obligations for digital asset firms do not change because the bill stalled.
crypto.news: Patrick Witt leaves White House amid CLARITY Act deadlock
