MW Cryptocurrencies cool after surging on Sunday. What's still unknown about crypto reserves after Trump's messages.

By Steve Goldstein

Crytocurrencies prices cooled a bit on Monday after surging on Sunday, when President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. would create a crypto reserve with five tokens.

So much was still unknown about the White House plan after two Trump messages indicating his support for a reserve of cryptocurrencies featuring bitcoin (BTCUSD), Ethereum (ETHUSD), Solana (SOLUSD), XRP (XRPUSD) and Cardano (ADAUSD).

Trump's two messages on his Truth Social platform gave no indication of the magnitude of the reserve, how it will be funded or when it would be created.

David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, said on the X social-media platform that Trump's announcement was consistent with his week-one executive order, which called for strengthening American leadership in digital financial technology.

That order did not specifically call for a creation of a reserve - something Trump discussed, in bitcoin terms, on the campaign trail - but did back open public blockchain networks without persecution.

Sacks said more will be unveiled at the White House crypto summit scheduled for Friday, which he's chairing. Attendees will include prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry, the White House said last week.

"From a reserve management standpoint, this move signals a shift toward active participation in the crypto economy by the U.S. government. It has the potential to accelerate institutional adoption, provide greater regulatory clarity, and strengthen the U.S.'s leadership in digital asset innovation," said Federick Brokate, head of U.S. business at 21Shares, which sells exchange-traded products.

All of the cryptocurrencies - Cardano in particular - surged on the back of the announcement. Stocks that are tied to crypto - notably Strategy $(MSTR.AU)$ and Coinbase Global $(COIN)$ - rallied in premarket trade on Monday by between 8% and 12%.

Even with the surge, bitcoin and Ethereum have both declined in value this year, the latter hurt by the $1.5 billion theft at the Bybit exchange.

Trump personally is involved in crypto, launching two memecoins just before he was inaugurated on the Solana blockchain, while his family-backed World Liberty Financial has reserves in Ethereum.

Trumpcoin (TRUMPUSD) and Melania (MELANIAUSD) both traded lower after gains on Friday.

-Steve Goldstein

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March 03, 2025 04:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

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