tl;dr
The U.S. is expected to announce a strategic crypto reserve on Friday, with Bitcoin holding a unique status and other cryptocurrencies being treated differently. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the announcement and stated that President Trump had expressed interest in a Bitcoin reserve. ...
The U.S. is set to announce a strategic crypto reserve with Bitcoin holding a unique status and other cryptocurrencies being treated differently. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the announcement and stated that President Trump had expressed interest in a Bitcoin reserve. The reserve will include XRP, Solana, and Cardano, in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The decision to include altcoins has sparked criticism within the crypto industry, with some advocating for a reserve solely focused on Bitcoin.
The announcement will coincide with the White House's first crypto summit, featuring prominent industry figures. The summit is part of a series replacing the previously proposed "crypto council."
According to Lutnick, "A Bitcoin strategic reserve is something the President’s interested in," adding that, "He spoke about it all during the campaign trail, and I think you’re going to see it executed on Friday." The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request from Decrypt for further comment. Lutnick discussed the status of other cryptocurrencies earmarked for a U.S. strategic crypto reserve, stating that, "Bitcoin is one thing, and then the other currencies, the other crypto tokens, I think, will be treated differently—positively, but differently."
In a Sunday post on his Truth Social account, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. would create a "crypto reserve" including XRP, Solana, and Cardano, adding in a follow-up post that, "obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the reserve." The move follows his campaign promise to create a "strategic Bitcoin stockpile," though the decision to include altcoins in the proposed reserve sparked disquiet among some corners of the crypto industry, with investment firm Bernstein criticizing the "unclear" rationale for doing so, while Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argued that, "Just Bitcoin would probably be the best option."
The expected announcement of the U.S. strategic crypto reserve on Friday would coincide with the White House's first crypto summit, with confirmed attendees including Armstrong, Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi, Strategy chairman Michael Saylor, Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani, and Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang. Set to be chaired by AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, the gathering is the first in a series of sporadic crypto summits that will essentially replace President Donald Trump’s promised “crypto council,” abandoned due to industry infighting over priorities.