Prices surged briefly after former President Donald Trump announced further plans for his highly anticipated "Crypto Strategic Reserve." In a post on Truth Social he said the plan would see the U.S. government hold various digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, and Cardano tokens. Notably, Bitcoin and Ether were added only after the initial post, which mentioned XRP, SOL, and ADA first.
Bitcoin rose to $95,000, but by Monday afternoon, the initial optimism began to dwindle. Bitcoin had fallen to $86,292 by the close of trading, while Ether fell nearly 16%.
Trump's announcement came on the back of a cryptocurrency downturn, which saw Bitcoin lose more than 17% in February. The reserve would include Bitcoin and Ether at its core, but the inclusion of altcoins like XRP and Solana drew skepticism from industry figures. Prominent investors such as Anthony Pompliano voiced concerns, complaining, "We were promised a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, not a smattering of altcoins." Economist Peter Schiff went further on the announcement and its aftermath:
Donald Trump, the first crypto President, just helped pull off the biggest crypto rug pull of all time. A Congressional investigation is now warranted to find out the following regarding this pump and dump scheme.
Despite the critics, Trump’s promise of a national crypto reserve did generate some renewed excitement in an otherwise sluggish market, which had faced the largest losses since the start of the year.