President Donald Trump has directed his Working Group on Digital Assets to include multiple cryptocurrencies in the national strategic reserve along with Bitcoin and Ethereum. The directive specifically names XRP, Solana and Cardano's ADA token.
Trump later amended his announcement to include Bitcoin and Ethereum, noting they would form the "heart of the reserve."
The President's language has shifted significantly since his keynote address at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee. During that speech, Trump had promised a Bitcoin-specific stockpile.
"If I am elected, it will be the policy of my Administration — the United States of America — to keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the government currently holds or acquires into the future. We will keep a hundred percent," Trump told the conference audience. "I hope you do well, at least. This will serve, in effect, as the core of the Strategic national Bitcoin stockpile."
The evolution became clearer when Trump signed an executive order on January 23. That order directed officials to establish a "digital asset stockpile" instead of specifically a Bitcoin reserve. The broader terminology has frustrated Bitcoin maximalists who expected a Bitcoin-only approach.
Following the order, prominent voices in the Bitcoin community expressed disappointment. "Raise your hand if you think Donald Trump should make the national 'digital asset' stockpile Bitcoin only," wrote Walker, host of THE Bitcoin podcast, in a post on X.
Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at mining company Riot Platforms, also criticized the executive order's language for deviating from Trump's earlier promises to Bitcoin supporters.
The executive order did include a ban on research and development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States. It also directed the working group to explore a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
President Trump will host the first White House crypto summit on March 7. The meeting will bring together industry executives and the Digital Asset Working Group to discuss the future of cryptocurrency regulatory policy in the United States.