US Crypto Industry Pushes Back Against Trump... "Strategic Reserve Should Only Include Bitcoin"

Industry Giants Who Have Supported Trump Oppose 5-Coin Reserve Plan

"Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin Don't Meet Strategic Reserve Criteria"

Some Point Out "Trump Fell Into Trap Due to Wrong Crypto Expert Opinions"

The cryptocurrency industry that has supported Trump is strongly opposing his mention of adding four digital assets beyond Bitcoin to strategic reserves. They argue that strategic reserves should be limited to Bitcoin only, as other assets cannot qualify and would be a waste of taxpayer money.

According to CNBC on the 4th (local time), the cryptocurrency industry that has supported Trump pushed back against his mention of four additional digital assets beyond Bitcoin for strategic reserves, calling it a waste of tax dollars.

As industry opposition intensified, cryptocurrencies that had surged following Trump's strategic reserve comments plummeted late on the 3rd in US time. Bitcoin fell about 9% to around $83,000 by 7 AM local time on the 4th. Ethereum dropped 15% to the low $2,000 range. Ripple, Solana, and Cardano, which had surged nearly 50% after being mentioned for strategic reserves, fell even more sharply.

This decline is also related to the Nasdaq's nearly 3% drop due to tariff concerns and worries about additional export regulations for Nvidia, but the cryptocurrency decline was even steeper compared to tech stocks.

Joe Lonsdale, founder of venture firm 8VC and a Trump supporter, wrote on X that "using tax dollars for cryptocurrency industry scams is wrong" and emphasized that strategic reserves should be "kept minimal with Bitcoin alone."

David Sacks, whom Trump appointed as White House AI and cryptocurrency czar, responded to Lonsdale's comments saying it's "too early to draw conclusions" as "no tax or spending program has been announced yet."

Sacks and Lonsdale are among the few conservatives in the tech industry who have supported Trump, including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

Vinny Lingham, founder of blockchain startup Civic and a cryptocurrency industry influencer, also wrote, "The government is running a deficit of nearly $2 trillion, and shouldn't be filling cryptocurrency bags with taxpayer money."

Tyler Winklevoss, a billionaire Bitcoin investor and major Trump supporter, also opposed Trump's cryptocurrency reserve plan in his X post. He said, "It's not opposition to Ripple, Solana, and Cardano, but they're not suitable for strategic reserves," emphasizing that "Bitcoin is the only digital asset in the world that meets the criteria."

David Marcus, who previously oversaw Facebook's cryptocurrency project, reposted Winklevoss's message, stating that most colleagues in the cryptocurrency community share the same view. Marcus, CEO of payment infrastructure startup Lightspark, had declared last July that he was switching his support from Democrat Harris to Trump.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also suggested in his X post that Bitcoin alone is the appropriate target for strategic reserves, writing that "only Bitcoin has a clear narrative as the successor to gold."

Anthony Pompliano, a tech media operator who strongly supports Trump, pointed out that "Trump has been led to think about strategically stockpiling dangerous tokens due to access from the wrong people." He explained that cryptocurrency projects, lobbyists, and interest groups "trapped Trump by telling him he should hold tokens made in America."

The digital asset industry's anger is directed at Sacks, who supported various cryptocurrencies as a venture capitalist before joining the White House. His company, Craft Ventures, invested in Bitwise, a cryptocurrency index fund manager.

Sacks wrote on X that he sold all cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, before taking office. He said, "I will provide updates when the ethics procedures are complete."

Some are not publicly criticizing Trump.

Michael Saylor, chairman of MicroStrategy, told CNBC in an interview that he wasn't surprised by President Trump's decision to include four other coins in strategic reserves, saying "it can't be interpreted as not being positive for the entire cryptocurrency industry."

Jonathan Jachym, head of global policy and government relations at Kraken, also praised that "the president has shown he intends to keep his promises."

The first Crypto Summit at the White House will be held on the 7th of this week.

Jung-a Kim, Contributing Writer kja@hankyung.com