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Trump administration announces Crypto Strategic Reserve

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March 4, 2025

President Trump has announced a Crypto Strategic Reserve, in which the government would purchase cryptocurrency. The reserve aims to hold bitcoin, ether, XRP, solana and cardano, according to a NPR report.

This is part of one of Trump's campaign promises to make the U.S. a major center of cryptocurrency. In January, Trump signed an executive order to create a working group to look at establishing a stockpile. However, with a reserve, the government would both buy and sell cryptocurrency.

The U.S. government holds more than $17 billion in bitcoin from seized criminal assets. The plan has received some pushback, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the reserve should be limited to bitcoin. Others have argued the government should not create a reserve due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrency.

The news comes on the heels of Trump's tariffs taking effect on Mexico, Canada and China. Trump has yet to release concrete plans of how the reserve would function.

Following the tariff announcement, the overall crypto market cap dropped by 8%, according to a report by Tip Ranks.

There has also been a push to regulate bitcoin ATMs following the growth in scams. One proposed bill in the Senate would set a cap on daily transactions.