President Donald Trump said over the weekend that his plan for a national crypto reserve now includes Solana, XRP, Cardano, and Ethereum instead of just Bitcoin. While excitement over the news temporarily halted the crypto market’s recent selloff, prices are tumbling again, and industry leaders are voicing concerns about Trump’s multi-asset plan.
While many crypto executives have been vocal supporters of Trump, spending millions on his campaign and publicly endorsing him, the two factions are clashing for the first time since the crypto-friendly president took office. In his first few weeks, Trump delivered on many of his crypto promises, including supporting a plan for a national crypto reserve, but some of his allies disagree with him on how to implement the policy.
Cameron Winklevoss, cofounder of crypto exchange Gemini—who donated $1 million in Bitcoin to Trump’s campaign and met with him at Mar-a-Largo in June—said that while he is excited about the idea, “Bitcoin is the only asset that meets the bar for a store of value reserve asset,” in a post on X on Monday.
One of the main arguments in support of a government-owned stockpile of Bitcoin is that some people see the currency as a store of value similar to the U.S. government’s reserves of gold. This means Bitcoin is seen by some as an asset that the government can invest in to keep its money safe from the fluctuations of fiat currencies in the long term.
While Bitcoin satisfies this criteria, Winklevoss says, Solana, XRP, and Cardano don’t. “It’s possible other assets could make the grade in the future, but it’s a very high bar,” he said.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, agreed in a post on X on Monday, saying that a Bitcoin-only reserve would be the best option because the currency offers a “clear story as successor to gold.”
Trump’s announcement also garnered criticism from industry leaders who say taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund the reserve. While Trump did not explain in his announcement how the government plans to pay for its investments, Joe Lonsdale, a Trump supporter and founder of venture capital firm 8VC, said in a post on X on Sunday, “It’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes.”
The White House’s special advisor on crypto and AI was quick to respond to Lonsdale, saying that nothing has been finalized. “Maybe you should wait to find out what’s actually being proposed,” he said.
However, not all crypto executives are against a multi-asset reserve. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, a crypto payments company behind XRP, took aim at Bitcoin maximalists. He emphasized in a post on X on Sunday that the crypto industry should “work together” to achieve its goals. “Maximalism is the enemy of the industry’s progress. Glad to see POTUS recognizing we live in a multichain world,” he said.
More details about Trump’s national crypto reserve—such as when it will be established and how the government will pay for it—are expected to come on Friday as Trump hosts the first crypto summit at the White House with prominent industry figures. It is unclear which crypto executives are invited to Friday’s summit.