"Trump's crypto empire": cryptocurrencies of the future of the U.S. reserve
In early March 2025, in his profile on Truth Social, American President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to create a national crypto reserve made up of five assets:
All of these cryptocurrencies are among the top ten by market capitalization. According to Trump himself, creating a cryptocurrency reserve is an essential step toward transforming the U.S. into the cryptocurrency capital of the world.
Why does the U.S. government need a reserve?
According to some experts, the crypto reserve will systematize digital assets confiscated in court proceedings, control a portion of the Web3 market, and reduce the volatility of cryptocurrencies at the expense of government reserves. In addition, when the reserve is created, many countries can use cryptocurrency seized from criminal individuals and organizations as legal tender.
The reserve can also play a significant role in the U.S. economy: Some supporters of the initiative believe that creating the reserve will help the government reduce the national debt, which reached a record $36 trillion during Joe Biden's administration.
Also, according to Republican Senator Cynthia Lamis, who advocated in July 2024 for creating a crypto reserve and transferring 200,000 seized bitcoins to the U.S. Treasury Department, such a reserve would help the country manage its current BTC assets. Lamis introduced a bill mandating the federal reserve acquire 1 million bitcoins within five years.
However, Trump's crypto policy has also been criticized. Analysts point out that the crypto market is volatile and subject to substantial price fluctuations, making cryptocurrencies too risky as an alternative savings option, especially when compared to gold.
However, the Bitcoin Policy Institute noted that as Bitcoin matures and the crypto market develops, the asset's volatility is likely to decrease, making it more stable as a savings vehicle.
Some prominent cryptocurrency proponents, such as Brian Armstrong — CEO of the well-known crypto exchange Coinbase — have spoken out against creating a U.S. multi-currency reserve. According to Armstrong, "probably the best option would have been just bitcoin — the simplest and most straightforward story as a successor to gold."
Why did Trump choose these five cryptocurrencies in particular?
When it comes to forming a cryptocurrency reserve, it's impossible to avoid Bitcoin, which is the first and key cryptocurrency in the Web3 industry and perhaps even one of the most critical assets in the entire world.
According to some reports, the government already owns about 200,000 BTC, which has been seized from criminal individuals and organizations. Bitcoin is in first place in terms of capitalization, which is $1.7 trillion as of March 2025. By this metric, Bitcoin is also one of the top ten largest assets in the world, surpassing major companies such as Meta, Tesla, and Walmart.
Ethereum is the second most important cryptocurrency in the Web3 industry. Although Trump initially did not mention Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies at all, the U.S. president later clarified that these assets would join the federal reserve and become its backbone.
The remaining three cryptocurrencies — Solana, XRP, and Cardano — were originally mentioned in Trump's statement. Their addition to the reserve is likely due to the Trump administration's close political and financial ties to these blockchain projects.
First, Ripple Labs, Solana Foundation, and Cardano Foundation supported and funded Trump's election campaign. Chinese analyst Alex Xu, one of Mint Ventures' research partners, believes these connections influenced Trump's final decision to include XRP, SOL, and ADA in the cryptocurrency reserve.
Secondly, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, all three organizations are under U.S. jurisdiction, which means the government can regulate and control their activities.