Bitcoin dominance slipped from 55.4% to below 50% in the hours following US President Donald Trump’s initial announcement that the country would include XRP, Solana, and Cardano in its “Crypto Strategic Reserve.” Trump later confirmed on Truth Social that Bitcoin (BTC) — as well as Ether (ETH) — would be “at the heart of the reserve,” although his inclusion of altcoins left a sour taste in the mouths of several Bitcoin enthusiasts — and even a Bitcoin critic. Bitcoin’s dominance has fallen to 49.6% as Cardano (ADA) and XRP (XRP) increased by 60.3% and 34.7%, respectively, over the last 24 hours. Solana (SOL) and Ether also rose by 25.5% and 13.1% during the same period, while other altcoins not explicitly mentioned in Trump’s post also gained. Bitcoin rose only 10% to $94,220.
The Trump administration’s decision not to implement a Bitcoin-only reserve surprised some, including Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff, who could not understand the logic behind including altcoins. “I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve,” Schiff wrote. “I don’t agree with it, but I get it. We have a gold reserve. Bitcoin is digital gold, which is better than analog gold. So let’s create a Bitcoin reserve too.” “But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?”
Meanwhile, Bitwise’s head of alpha strategies, Jeff Park, stated it was a “huge political miscalculation by Trump in underestimating just how crucial it was for the Strategic Reserve to focus solely on Bitcoin.” “The only crypto asset that makes any logical sense whatsoever as part of a country’s strategic reserve is Bitcoin,” said Nick Neuman, CEO of Bitcoin custody solution Casa. “Infinite supply digital assets — especially ones with zero utility — do not fit the bill.” Others, such as Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms, suggested that the Crypto Strategic Reserve will “naturally become Bitcoin-only” as altcoins trend to zero relative to Bitcoin.
The Crypto Strategic Reserve comes on the back of weeks of evaluation from the President’s newly formed Working Group on Digital Assets, led by executive director Bo Hines and David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar. Trump will host the first White House Crypto Summit on March 7, inviting industry leaders to discuss regulatory policies and stablecoin oversight, which will be chaired by Sacks and administered by Hines.