Trump Crypto Reserve ‘Ridiculous’ and ‘Messed Up,’ Experts Say

ADA Adoption Altcoins Bitcoin Brad Garlinghouse Cardano

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Connor Sephton

Features writer

Connor Sephton

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Connor Sephton is a journalist based in London, who also works for Sky News and the BBC as a radio newsreader and online reporter. He has covered crypto since 2018 — reporting from major conferences...

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

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Last updated:

March 3, 2025 11:13 EST

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Bitcoiners have reacted with dismay to Donald Trump’s strategic crypto reserve — with one claiming Sunday’s announcement “reeks of incompetence.”

The president has confirmed that altcoins including XRP, SOL and ADA will feature in this stockpile, with BTC and ETH treated like an afterthought on Truth Social.

Critics claim such smaller cryptocurrencies suffer from high levels of centralization — and shouldn’t have been included.

Podcaster Peter McCormack said the out-of-the-blue posts were “a disappointment but not a surprise,” telling Cryptonews:

“A Bitcoin strategic reserve is a logical move — Bitcoin is a hard asset, and its long-term appreciation could help offset national debt or serve as a financial backstop. Instead, the decision to hold a mix of known scams and inferior assets alongside Bitcoin reeks of both incompetence in appointments and successful lobbying from the likes of Ripple.”

McCormack went on to argue that David Sacks “was always the wrong choice” for White House crypto czar, and claimed “he lacks any real understanding of Bitcoin and why no other cryptocurrency holds long-term value for wealth preservation.”

“Bitcoin should be the sole asset in a U.S. government strategic reserve because it is the only digital asset that is truly decentralized, scarce, and resistant to manipulation — the properties that make it the best money in the world.”

He says no other cryptocurrency offers the same levels of immutability, transparency and long-term appreciation potential — and exposure to “centralized or unproven alternatives” means this reserve will be less effective at strengthening America’s national financial security.

However, McCormack believes Donald Trump himself had little to do with thrashing out the details in this announcement — and argues that the president’s advisers should shoulder more of the blame.

“Expecting Trump to grasp Bitcoin and crypto assets at the depth of those who have spent years studying the crossroads of money and economics is unrealistic. The real failure lies with those advising him — either they haven’t done the necessary work to understand Bitcoin’s unique properties, or they’ve fallen for lobbyists like Brad Garlinghouse, pushing inferior, centralized alternatives.”

While it may not be the policy that was hoped for, McCormack thinks it will be good for Bitcoin’s price regardless, as it adds to supply pressure and “signals to other nations that this is an asset that should be taken seriously.”

On X, Euler Labs co-founder Michael Bentley was equally scathing about the policy, and said this reserve will resemble “a retail trader’s 2017 portfolio.”

“Strong chance this is abandoned when it becomes apparent U.S. taxpayers are just liquidity for ADA bag holders. Bitcoin will be tarnished with the same brush, making it a net negative policy in the long run. Zero chance other governments copy trade this. Awful policy. Massive fumble.”

‘It Makes Zero Sense’

Danny Scott is CEO of the Bitcoin-only exchange CoinCorner, and told Cryptonews it is “ridiculous” — especially considering financial institutions and those investing through exchange-traded funds would have been unable to react to the news.

“Announcing in two messed-up tweets on a Sunday morning is crazy. I appreciate the world we live in now is heavily driven and influenced by social media, but it felt like a very unprofessional, almost knee jerk reaction to the crypto market going through a correction — and Trump not wanting it to reflect poorly on himself.”

Scott added that “no country wants to hold on to something that can be fully controlled by a single entity, especially an entity in a foreign country” — and believes this approach to a strategic reserve won’t be emulated.

“Can you imagine Russia or China buying XRP (which is fully controlled by the U.S. company Ripple) as a strategic reserve? The U.S. introduces sanctions and they could completely freeze China or Russia’s access to their XRP. Countries around the world will want a currency that cannot be influenced or controlled by other countries, which has never previously been a viable option before Bitcoin.”

Despite this reserve’s imperfections, he too believes “it’s still potentially great for Bitcoin” — as other countries that follow may decide to go BTC only or include “a few additional cryptocurrencies that align or are controlled within their interest.

“But I believe over time, as we’ve already seen, altcoins all trend towards zero against Bitcoin — and countries will eventually realise this slowly moving to a Bitcoin only reserve in the long term.”