From Crypto Summit to National Reserves: Trump Leads the Transformation of Digital Assets in the United States

# I. Core Content of the Reserve Plan

Before the Crypto Summit

On March 2, 2025, U.S. President Trump announced through social media that he plans to include BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA in the U.S. national strategic reserve and signed the "Digital Assets Executive Order," establishing a Presidential Digital Asset Working Group to advance the related plans. He stated that this move is seen as a direct response to the Biden administration's strict regulatory policies, aiming to make the U.S. the "global cryptocurrency capital." Following this announcement, Trump declared that the first White House cryptocurrency summit would be held on March 7, inviting industry leaders and working group members to discuss the regulatory framework.
In his statement, Trump emphasized that BTC and ETH would be positioned as the "core assets" of the reserve, while XRP, SOL, and ADA would serve as supplementary components. He specifically mentioned, "Bitcoin and Ethereum will become the core of the currency reserve, and other valuable cryptocurrencies will jointly support the U.S. digital asset strategy." After the announcement, the cryptocurrency market surged across the board:

• BTC surpassed $95,000, with a daily increase of over 10%;

• ETH rose above $2,500, with an increase of about 13%;

• XRP, SOL, and ADA performed particularly well, with ADA's daily increase reaching as high as 72%, while XRP and SOL rose by 33% and 22%, respectively;

• The MEME TRUMP, associated with Trump personally, also increased by 25%.

After the Crypto Summit

On March 6, 2025, Trump officially signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, funded by the 200,000 BTC seized by the federal government. These Bitcoins will serve as a value storage tool and will not be sold. Additionally, the executive order established a U.S. digital asset reserve to store seized digital assets other than Bitcoin, but no further acquisition of new assets will occur, and this reserve will be managed by the U.S. Treasury. However, the subsequent crypto summit caused the market to take a sharp downturn again. This highly anticipated inaugural cryptocurrency industry summit, promoted as "defining the regulatory direction for the next four years," did not release substantial policy documents and failed to provide clear guarantees or timelines for the direct purchase of new cryptocurrencies, with most speakers only expressing gratitude to Trump. After the summit, the price of BTC immediately dropped by about 3%, reflecting significant market disappointment.

# II. Analysis of Trump's Related Assets

Currently, Trump's related crypto assets can be divided into two categories: U.S. asset reserves and WLFI (World Liberty Financial) related assets. The U.S. strategic reserve assets were announced by Trump himself to be included in the national asset reserve. WLFI is a DeFi project supported by Trump and his family, which holds a large number of altcoins. Previously, WLFI's management announced plans to launch its WLFI asset reserve. Both types of projects have been questioned by the market regarding their connection to political donations, suggesting that they provide political contributions to Trump through various means to gain presidential advertising positions.

1. U.S. Strategic Reserve Assets (BTC/ETH/SOL/XRP/ADA)

The legislative push for Bitcoin reserves at the state level has faced obstacles.

Unlike the Bitcoin reserve bill signed by Trump through presidential executive power, state bills must go through the state legislative process, and once passed, they become state law, which has stronger institutional constraints. Approximately 25 states in the U.S. have proposed regional Bitcoin reserve bills, covering half of the states. Currently, four states' bills have been rejected (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio), all of which are Republican-led "red states." It is worth noting that although the proposed bills from various states have significant differences in their terms, they essentially aim to increase new liquidity in the Bitcoin market or reduce potential selling pressure. For example:

• Pennsylvania proposed that the state treasurer invest 10% of the state fund (about $7 billion) in Bitcoin;

• Texas established reserves by allowing residents to pay taxes and accept donations in Bitcoin, requiring at least a five-year holding period;

• Ohio plans to establish reserves from seized assets, reducing potential selling pressure on Bitcoin.

Although the Bitcoin reserve bill signed by Trump has set the national tone for Bitcoin reserves, the progress of reserve bills at the state level remains to be seen. Currently, it seems difficult to achieve in the short term, as numerous rejections at the state level (such as the fluctuating attitudes of Republican red states) may shake the support of state legislative members. Additionally, the recent volatility of BTC remains a concern.

SOL, XRP, ADA National Reserve Assets and Spot ETF Expectations

The narrative of including SOL, XRP, and ADA in reserves and the approval of ETFs may be one of the important hotspots in 2025, especially during key moments in April (initial responses to SOL ETF) and October (final decisions). Currently, the probability of the spot ETFs for these three projects being approved in April seems low, mainly due to certain risks related to unlocking and selling pressure, which may lead to significant price fluctuations affecting the SEC's decisions. Recently, SOL has experienced significant price volatility due to events such as token auctions and the LIBRA black swan incident. As of March 5, SOL's price has dropped from a high of $261 at the beginning of the year to $141, a year-on-year decrease of 45%. XRP is still concerning the market due to 42% of its tokens remaining unlocked, raising fears of subsequent selling pressure. ADA, on the other hand, has a circulating market cap of only $33.1 billion, which is significantly lower compared to other projects included in the reserve asset list.

2. WLFI Related Assets (TRX/ONDO/MOVE/ENA/LINK/AAVE, etc.)

The assets associated with the crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), supported by the Trump family (such as TRX, ONDO, MOVE, ENA, LINK, AAVE, etc.), generally exhibit characteristics of small market capitalization and high volatility. The interaction patterns of these assets with WLFI suggest that project parties may induce the WLFI foundation to purchase their tokens through mechanisms such as "political donations" or "token swaps" to create market momentum. For example, after receiving investment from Sun Yuchen, WLFI made significant purchases of TRX and WBTC, with current holdings valued at approximately $63.41 million. As of February 9, Sun Yuchen had invested a total of $75 million, with 84.5% of the funds used to purchase associated tokens. From the market performance perspective, WLFI's holding dynamics often trigger significant price fluctuations of related tokens. For instance, after WLFI announced the purchase of ONDO, its price surged by 16.33% within 24 hours, breaking the historical high to reach 2.1 USDT. This short-term spike is highly correlated with WLFI's public holding disclosures, raising suspicions that project parties are using WLFI's "Trump effect" to pump prices before selling for profit. It is noteworthy that WLFI tokens themselves suffer from severe liquidity issues—non-transferable and non-tradable, with 75% of the project's net profits flowing to Trump-related entities, further exacerbating market concerns about manipulation risks.

# III. Potential Impact on the Future Crypto Market

Although the Bitcoin strategic reserve plan recently launched by the U.S. government is significantly lower in scale and policy strength than market expectations, a vertical comparison of the policy trajectories of the two administrations reveals that the U.S. crypto industry has achieved a historic turning point. Currently, under the Republican-led restructuring of the regulatory framework, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin not only gain legal status as compliant financial instruments but are also included in the investment portfolios of mainstream financial institutions.

While the market's expectation of the "U.S. government directly entering the market to purchase BTC" is unlikely to be realized in the short term, there are still multiple possibilities for policy evolution: First, the U.S. government will not sell its current holdings of 200,000 Bitcoins, alleviating the long-standing market concern about the "Silk Road" seized funds being sold off, thus avoiding significant selling pressure on the secondary market; second, local governments in the U.S. are promoting regional Bitcoin reserve plans. Although progress is currently not smooth, Trump's signing of the Bitcoin reserve bill has set the national tone, and local governments may advance more smoothly in the future. Additionally, the newly established SEC cryptocurrency working group is developing a more flexible compliance framework, paving the way for future federal-level strategic reserves.

From a macro perspective, Trump's successful push to include Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the U.S. strategic reserves may trigger a demonstration effect, prompting multiple countries to reassess their reserve strategies. For example, Japan previously delayed its decision citing that "the U.S. is still in the discussion phase." If the U.S. implements the reserve plan through legislation or executive action, Japan may shift to a more proactive stance. Furthermore, countries like Russia, China, and those in Europe may accelerate their layouts due to geopolitical competition, such as legalizing mining and supporting crypto reserve bills to strengthen their voice in the digital currency field.

Note: All cryptocurrency investments, including yield products, are highly speculative and involve significant risks. Past performance of products does not guarantee future results. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and before making any investment decisions, you should carefully assess whether trading or holding digital currencies is suitable for you based on your personal investment goals, financial situation, and risk tolerance, and consult a professional financial advisor. The information in this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment, legal, or tax advice. The author and publisher are not responsible for any losses resulting from the use of the information in this article.