Is a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Actually Good for Crypto?

The crypto market’s fixation on a U.S. government-led strategic Bitcoin reserve (SBR) has been a hot topic since Donald Trump first proposed the idea last year, but as his administration kicks off, industry experts are beginning to question if an SBR is actually what’s best for the crypto industry.

Chatter around the topic has increased this week leading up to the White House’s first official Crypto Summit, which comes less than a week after President Trump announced plans for a strategic reserve that would include BTC and ETH, as well as SOL, XRP, and ADA.

The inclusion of altcoins caught many industry leaders off guard, even those that benefit directly from the government’s surprising reserve asset list.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said he prefers no reserve at all if it comes at the cost of decentralization.

“If there has to be a reserve, it’s based on objectively measurable requirements. I don’t care what they are, they can even be constructed such that only Bitcoin satisfies them right now, they just must be objectively measurable and rationally justified,” Yakovenko added.

The debate has been sparked by a report from Unchained, which revealed that XRP may have only been included in the reserve plans due to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse pitching SOL to President Trump in order to “give the reserve more legitimacy among the crypto community.”

Many market participants are concerned over the legitimacy of a government reserve that includes tokens like ADA and XRP. Industry leaders such as Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, and Tyler Winklevoss of Gemini benefit directly from altcoin popularity, but have spoken out against including altcoins in a SBR.

“I have nothing against XRP, SOL, or ADA but I do not think they are suitable for a Strategic Reserve. Only one digital asset in the world right now meets the bar and that digital asset is Bitcoin,” said Winklevoss.

Nic Carter, a Bitcoin activist and venture capitalist, also published an article discussing the potential pitfalls of an SBR, which cites issues such as politicization of the asset, the dilution of the values of decentralization, and the fact that the SBR could simply be undone by a future administration, which would likely be a much heavier blow to the industry than never having one at all.

Despite the controversy surrounding Trump’s strategic reserve proposal, BTC is up nearly 5% this week to $88,000 after a tumultuous opening to the month, which saw the asset tumble from $95,000 to $78,000 in just four days.