Bitcoin sheds $10,000 in a day as Trump proposes a strategic cryptocurrency reserve

Bitcoin's notoriously volatile again, shedding $10,000 in a single day as its price tumbled from $93,000 to $83,000. This is all because of President Donald Trump's proposal to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve — a pivot from his earlier stance of exclusively stockpiling Bitcoin.

President Donald Trump's proposal for a U.S. strategic cryptocurrency reserve has sparked reactions from crypto leaders, who are pushing back against the inclusion of anything other than Bitcoin in the reserve.

Trump's plan, a departure from his earlier stance of exclusively stockpiling Bitcoin, will see a mix of Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, and Cardano form the reserve. However, key details such as the reserve's size, timeline, and management (whether by the Federal Reserve or another entity) remain unclear.

The shift didn't sit well with the Winklevoss twins, founders of cryptocurrency company Gemini, who donated millions to support Trump's election campaign.

"I have nothing against XRP, SOL, or ADA, but I do not think they are suitable for a Strategic Reserve," Tyler Winklevoss posted on X. "Only one digital asset in the world right now meets the bar, and that digital asset is bitcoin."

Cameron Winklevoss expressed surprise on X about the other digital assets under consideration. "Bitcoin is the only asset that qualifies as a reserve store of value."

Some cryptocurrency experts also expressed skepticism about Trump's strategic crypto reserve idea.

In an email to Quartz, Steven Lubka, managing director at Bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin, noted that the primary risk with other cryptocurrencies isn't to the U.S. but to individual investors who might interpret this as an endorsement of those assets.

"If President Trump announced the U.S. would be taking a stake in a new cryptocurrency to be used for payments among state actors, and that this cryptocurrency was created by a blockchain startup funded by venture capitalists, I think people would be rightly concerned about what mischief was afoot," Lubka said.

Michael Terpin, CEO of Transform Ventures and author of Bitcoin Supercycle, said that a strategic stockpile should consist solely of the highest-quality, truly decentralized digital asset – which is Bitcoin. "Adding secondary cryptos controlled by companies and foundations would be akin to adding gold mining and energy stocks to the strategic gold and oil reserves."

He noted that Bitcoin is the only digital asset consistently reaching new all-time highs in every cycle. "Keep it simple and safe. Keep the strategic reserve in Bitcoin."