Decentralized social media platform Farcaster’s co-founder Dan Romero does not see the US government buying any more crypto tokens to add to its upcoming crypto reserve. Romero predicts that the strategic federal crypto holdings will only contain assets that were seized by US financial authorities from fines and illicit activities.
In a Tuesday X post, the CEO turned angel investor said that Bitcoin will account for 80% of the reserve, and altcoins like Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA) will be added through “in-kind payment of taxes or donations.”
Predictions on crypto reserve details
1. Government will just keep assets seized; no new buys
2. BTC will represent 80% of holdings
3. XRP / ADA do some in-kind tax payment / quasi-donation to be in it
— Dan Romero (@dwr) March 3, 2025
As of March, according to data from Arkham Intelligence, the US government holds eight digital currencies: BTC, USDT, USDC, AUSDC, ETH, wBTC (wrapped Bitcoin), BNB, and wBNB.
President Trump’s crypto list
Romero’s predictions come after US President Donald Trump listed five coins he would want added to the government’s stockpile on Sunday. He mentioned XRP, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin, and Ethereum as coins that would elevate “America to become the world’s crypto capital.”
Yet, before the US president entered the Oval Office, the crypto community had assumed BTC was the only crypto that would be considered in the reserve talks. Many netizens are conflicted about adding coins like ADA to the federal holdings, calling Trump’s proposed list as a pathway for insider trading.
“I mean, you could make the case for XRP bc of its connections and ‘supposed utility’ but throwing in ADA in there, which is a ghost chain that doesn’t work, and you know it’s a grift,” denoted Taste the Smoke Barbecue hotel owner Stephen Ellis, on X, “Btw- The reserve should be only Bitcoin.”
Another misanthrope is Latif Peracha, general partner at venture fund and crypto angel investment firm M13, who completely opposes the idea of a government-held crypto reserve. He argues that such a move could challenge US Treasuries’ status as the world’s primary safe-haven asset.
“I think reserves actually make no sense,” Peracha told reporters on Monday. “That’s long-term a potential risk to a dollar-first global order.” Instead, he is calling for the Trump administration to focus on stablecoins, which are purportedly less volatile than other digital assets.
Zach Burks, CEO of non-fungible token (NFT) platform Mintable, agreed with Peracha’s sentiments. “Bitcoin is the only one that makes sense to hold in a strategic reserve,” he reckoned.
The crypto strategic reserve is including currencies like XRP which has no limit to the supply.
The word “reserve” implies storing something with limited supply- historically gold, oil, etc.
We might as well have a US dollar reserve and print a new trillion usd to “hoard”…
— brady moritz (@bradymoritz) March 3, 2025
Still, some industry commenters like Mena Theodorou, co-founder of the crypto exchange Coinstash, see the inclusion of multiple cryptocurrencies in the reserve as an indication that the administration is “taking crypto seriously.”
Concerns over conflicts of interest
Some members of the crypto community against the creation of a national crypto reserve believe the Trump’s administration Crypto Czar, David Sacks, has financial ties to the industry, and this could present a situational conflict of interest.
The White House’s chief of crypto and AI is pleading with critics to wait for an official policy announcement before drawing any conclusions. “Nobody announced a tax or spending program,” Sacks wrote on social media yesterday, squashing claims that taxpayer’s money would be used to fund the reserve.
Sacks, a venture capitalist and close ally of Elon Musk, was a vocal Trump supporter before he was appointed as the administration’s AI and Crypto Czar. Doubters are now accusing him of using his position to “fatten up” his investments.
According to a Financial Times report, Sacks announced he had let go of all his crypto investments before picking up his Czar role, but his investment firm Craft Ventures still holds stakes in several crypto startups.
“Investigate David Sacks crypto holdings (and his immediate family). This reeks of cronyism, if not outright fraud. Taxpayer theft shouldn’t be used to purchase ANY digital assets,” said crypto advocate Aaron Day on X.
This Friday, Sacks will be hosting the inaugural White House Digital Currency Summit; the industry expects Washington to address how it will go about a diversified federal crypto reserve.
