US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his government would create a national strategic cryptography reserve which would include five cryptocurrencies, adding that he would make the United States “the capital of the cryptographic world”.
In a declaration on his Truth social network, Trump said that a cryptographic working group, which was set up after its inauguration in January, advanced the creation of the reserve, making the promises he made for the first time to cryptographic lobbyists during his electoral campaign.
After his announcement on Sunday, the values of the named currencies, including Bitcoin, skyrocketed, after what was a collapse of several weeks.
This decision comes before a very first summit of the cryptography of the White House on Friday and represents a considerable turnaround in American politics. The administration of former President Joe Biden repressed the industry due to suspicion of fraudulent transactions. Trump himself was a skeptical crypto during his first mandate as president. At the time, he called Bitcoin – the largest cryptocurrency – a “scam”.
In his announcement on Sunday, however, Trump criticized the policies of the Biden era, calling them “corrupt”.
Trump said that “crypto reserve would breed this critical industry after years of attacks by the Biden administration … I will make sure that the United States is the capital of world cryptography. We make great America again.
Here is what you need to know about the new American cryptography reserve:
What will the American crypto reserve include?
In his articles on Sunday, Trump initially mentioned that the small currencies – XRP, Cardano and Solana – would be part of the new national stocks of Crypto.
About an hour later, however, the president in a separate article said that “and obviously, BTC and ETH … will be at the heart of the reserve”, referring to Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two main cryptocurrencies by market value.
The markets immediately reacted favorably to the position, Cardano jumping by about 60% to $ 1.25 compared to previous $ 0.65, according to Coinbase Crypto Exchange – although Monday, it settled again at around $ 0.97. Solana went from around $ 150 to $ 170 and XRP increased from $ 2.25 to $ 3, the two currencies increasing at around 12 and 20%respectively.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Ethereum have earned more than 10%, Bitcoin reaching $ 94,000 in previous $ 86,000.
During his campaign, Trump courted the cryptographic industry and promised aggressive measures to support the currencies once in power. After his victory in the elections in November, the cryptocurrency market was witness to unprecedented overvoltage – Bitcoin, for example, reached a summit of $ 109,000. However, the market has slowed down in the following weeks.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in January launched their own memes pieces – digital currencies inspired by viral trends but which do not have the financial or technological support of real cryptocurrencies.
Elon Musk, who directs the effectiveness of Trump’s government, also frequently promotes cryptocurrencies on its social media network X (previously Twitter).
What could be the goal behind a crypto reserve?
The possession of digital currencies like Bitcoin is more and more considered by governments as another value store, such as gold, and as a coverage against inflation. But some experts say that the cryptography market is very volatile and that prices oscillations made a risky bet like another value store – in particular compared to gold.
Many countries with digital currencies seized in criminal surveys could use cryptocurrencies as a legal obligation.
Switzerland plans to decide on crypto reserves after a public referendum, while Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Poland and Russia are considering or taking action to build them.
The US government currently has the largest cryptocurrency holder in any country – 200,000 bitcoin – and Trump’s position is considered to be more and more credibility at different parts. If the plans for the American crypto reserve go ahead, more and more countries will likely go into the game because of the disproportionate influence of the United States as the greater economy in the world.
Trump’s crypto will position America before the curve, which will give it a considerable influence on the way in which international cryptography regulations emerge later.
And if the American government, through a reserve, has a substantial part of the world volume of crypto token, it would be able to reduce the volatilation of Curtentyluy prices associated with these digital currencies.
In July 2024, republican senator Cynthia Lummis presented an act of bitcoin at the congress, which demanded that all bitcoins be transferred to the American Treasury and pushed to the creation of a cryptographic reserve. Lummis also said that such a reserve would help the United States manage its current Bitcoin holdings in a transparent manner.
“Bitcoin transforms not only our country, but the world and becomes the first nation developed to use Bitcoin because a savings technology ensures our position as a world leader in financial innovation,” she said.
The bill is still in consideration.
What other strategic reservations do the United States hold?
The only other strategic or emergency reserves that the United States has its huge oil stocks, known as the Strategic Oil Reserve (SPR), Louisiana and Texas.
The United States government describes reserves as “the largest worldwide oil supply”. Up to 714 million barrels, crude is stored in underground salt caves located in four separate sites in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US government. It is maintained by the American Ministry of Energy.
The United States must rarely access its raw reserves. The last time was in June 2011, when President Barack Obama ordered that 30 million barrels were released for sale to fill the gaps caused by conflicts in Libya, a large oil producing country. The reserves were created for the first time in 1975 after the Arab countries announced an oil embargo in countries that supported the War of Israel in 1973 against Syria and Egypt.
Do other countries have crypto reserves?
Only three are currently treating cryptocurrencies as a legal act:
- El Salvador: Since 2021, the government of Nayib Bukele has adopted bitcoin as a call for offers, which makes it the first country to do so. However, Yale researchers found in a January 2024 study that the part did not see much use. In January, the government downgraded the rules of Bitcoin, which no longer makes it useful to pay taxes and state bills. El Salvador currently has around 6,088 bitcoin in its reserves, which are estimated at $ 558 million.
- Central African Republic: In 2022, the car adopted Bitcoin as a legal call, but we do not know how much the country has in its reserves.
- Bhutan: In January, Gelephu Mindfulness City of Bhoutan adopted a policy of maintaining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in strategic reserves. Bhutan mines and has around 11,000 bitcoins, worth 1.1 billion dollars according to Arkham Exchange.
Meanwhile, several countries have currencies such as Bitcoin, often seized through the application of the law within the framework of criminal activity. Country Holdings includes:
- UNITED STATES: At around 200,000 bitcoin, the highest in all countries in the world, worth around 16.7 billion dollars, according to Bitcoin Treasuries, a trading website.
- China: Cryptographic transactions are currently prohibited in China because the government has struggled to regulate them. The Chinese government is working on the creation of its own digital currency – which would be supported by the Chinese central bank. Currently, China holds around 194,000 Bitcoin, worth around 16.2 billion dollars (March 4), which was seized with companies in the Ponzi program.
- United Kingdom: The British government has approximately 61 bitcoins seized in international money laundering networks, according to the Binance cryptographic society. It’s about $ 5 million.
- Ukraine: Contains approximately 1,200 bitcoin of public donations due to the Russian war against Ukraine. This is estimated at around $ 100 million.
- Finland: Has approximately 890 Bitcoin – about $ 74 million – which was seized during drug trafficking surveys.
- India: has 450 bitcoin seized during cryptography fraud surveys, estimated at $ 37 million.
