Update (March 2 16:48:31 UTC): This article has been revised to incorporate President Trump’s latest announcement regarding BTC and ETH being part of the reserve.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, recently revealed that the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets has been tasked with including XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano’s ADA (ADA) in the cryptocurrency strategic reserve.
The President added Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to the list of digital currencies to be incorporated into the reserve in a subsequent post, declaring that they would be at the “core of the reserve.”
Source: Donald J. Trump
Earlier, Trump pledged to create a “strategic national Bitcoin reserve” at the Bitcoin 2024 conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. During his keynote address, Trump informed the crowd:
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my Administration — the United States of America — to retain 100% of all the Bitcoin the government currently possesses or acquires into the future. We will maintain a hundred percent.”
“I hope you thrive, at the very least. This will effectively function as the foundation of the Strategic national Bitcoin reserve,” the President continued.
The language used by the US President regarding a Bitcoin strategic reserve has evolved following his January 23 executive order instructing the group to create a “digital asset stockpile,” which frustrated Bitcoin maximalists.
Then-candidate Trump delivering the keynote address at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. Source: Cointelegraph
Related: Republicans announce the establishment of a bicameral crypto working group
Trump signs executive order, but it isn’t what Bitcoin maximalists anticipated
President Trump executed the executive order directing the Working Group on Digital Assets to investigate the viability of a national cryptocurrency reserve and to consider a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
The executive order additionally prohibited the research and development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) within the United States.
In response to the Jan. 23 order, Bitcoin maximalists expressed their discontent with the ambiguous wording of the order and the possible inclusion of other digital assets in the reserve.
President Trump signs the executive order on digital assets and AI. Source: The White House
“Raise your hand if you believe Donald Trump should create a national ‘digital asset’ stockpile exclusively for Bitcoin,” Walker, host of THE Bitcoin podcast wrote on X.
Pierre Rochard, the research vice president at mining company Riot Platforms also criticized the wording of the executive order, which strayed from President Trump’s previous commitments to Bitcoin enthusiasts.
President Trump is set to host the inaugural White House crypto summit on March 7 to discuss the future of cryptocurrency regulatory policy in the United States with industry leaders and the Digital Asset Working Group.
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