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President Trump said on Sunday that three cryptocurrencies—XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA)—will be part of a U.S. strategic crypto reserve, offering initial specifics regarding the reserve’s potential structure.
Trump later clarified that the reserve would include the two biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), although he initially failed to name them in his comments. On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump made the announcements.
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” said Trump. U.S. dominance in the cryptocurrency market will be my personal goal. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
Market Reaction to Trump’s Announcement
The prices of XRP, SOL, and ADA skyrocketed after Trump made his first announcement. Within two hours of the president’s post, the price of ADA surged by over 63%, SOL by 23%, and XRP by 32%.
Although XRP, ADA, and SOL supporters were ecstatic about the announcement, several Bitcoin and Ethereum holders were first surprised and disappointed.
Just over an hour following his first post, the president provided further clarification, saying, “BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies will be at the heart of the Reserve.”
During his campaign for president in 2024, Trump brought up the concept of a strategic crypto reserve. A working committee was directed to explore the development of a strategic crypto reserve by an executive order he signed shortly after taking office in January; but, the order did not specifically mandate that the U.S. construct one.
In accordance with the directive, the task force on digital assets is to “evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile.” Trump told the group to “move forward” with officially forming the reserve on Sunday. On Friday, officials from the crypto business and the government will gather for a summit hosted by the working group.
Origins of the U.S. Crypto Reserve Proposal
The idea of establishing a national Bitcoin reserve was first proposed by Senator Cynthia Lummis. At the Bitcoin Nashville conference in July, she was the first to call for one; then-candidate Trump was also a speaker. Lummis suggested a bill that would have allowed the US Treasury to buy one million bitcoins over five years, which is about five percent of the total quantity of Bitcoin.
Despite numerous failed attempts, several state legislatures in the United States have proposed legislation to establish strategic crypto reserves.
Multicoin Capital, in which White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks is a minority partner, has invested in the Solana blockchain ecosystem, which aims to provide quick transactions with cheap fees. “Hodling” SOL, the blockchain’s native token, was something Sacks mentioned in an interview from 2021. However, in a late Sunday post on X, he claimed to have sold all of his cryptocurrency assets “prior to the start of the administration.” Additionally, Solana is the foundation for TRUMP, the president’s memecoin.
Sacks stated on X (formerly Twitter) that Trump’s declaration was “consistent with his week-one EO” soon after Trump made his posts.
Ripple’s Legal Battle with the SEC
Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been suing Ripple for years, accusing the firm of marketing XRP, the native coin of the XRP Ledger network that Ripple supports, as an unregistered security during Trump’s first term in office. Among Ripple’s latest efforts to raise its visibility in Washington is a heavy contribution to the crypto sector super PAC Fairshake and to Trump’s 2025 inauguration fund.
