Trump Signs Order Creating Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Digital Asset Stockpile

The president says the reserve would include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, and Ripple.

Bitcoin coins are seen in London, England, on Dec. 7, 2017. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 6, creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.

White House crypto czar David Sacks explained in a post on X that the creation of this reserve was yet another one of Trump’s campaign promises, would not “cost American taxpayers a dime,” utilizing Bitcoin already owned by the federal government, and it would serve as a “digital Fort Knox.”

“Premature sales of bitcoin have already cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion in lost value,” he said. ”Now the federal government will have a strategy to maximize the value of its holdings.”

Trump announced that the five digital assets he expected to include in the reserve were Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Ripple (XRP) in a post on Truth Social on March 2.

“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA. I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World,” he said. ”We are making America great again!”

The president signed the executive order the night before he is set to host the White House crypto summit, during which he is expected to share his plans to build the strategic reserve.

As to what that strategy would look like, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signaled in a recent interview that a bitcoin-only strategic reserve would be established and that the other tokens would be “treated differently.”

“The president definitely thinks that there’s a Bitcoin strategic reserve,” Lutnick said. “Now, there will be the question of, how do we handle the other cryptocurrencies. And I think the model is going to be announced on [March 7] when we do that.

“So Bitcoin is one thing, and then the other currencies, the other crypto tokens, I think, will be treated differently. Positively, but differently.”

Some disagree with diversifying a crypto reserve beyond Bitcoin.

Bitcoin critic and gold advocate Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, said he thinks it would only make sense to have a bitcoin reserve.

“I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve,” Schiff said on X. “I don’t agree with it, but I get it. We have a gold reserve. Bitcoin is digital gold, which is better than analog gold. So, let’s create a Bitcoin reserve, too. But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve?”

The news of Trump’s crypto plans spiked the market value of the ones mentioned, with the total crypto market increasing by about $300 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Individually, ADA surged more than 60 percent, XRP advanced by 33 percent, and SOL increased by 25 percent. Bitcoin and ETH rose 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively.