Ripple Labs Pitched President Trump to Include SOL in the Crypto Reserve Plan

Ripple Labs executives, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty, reportedly pitched President Trump to include SOL in the crypto reserve plan

President Trump's crypto reserve plan announced on Sunday was met with amusement rather than amazement by the digital asset community, especially given a lack of Bitcoin and ether mentions in his post. The first three tokens, XRP, SOL, and ADA, are not seen as holding the same store-of-value status as BTC and ETH, leading to many questions about whether the initiative is serious and will amass large amounts of these assets or is simply a way to give early investors and the insiders behind these tokens a public relations boost. The Polymarket odds on any of these assets being in a U.S. reserve currently show Bitcoin above 50% (at 64%), with Ethereum second highest at 42%, and XRP and SOL neck and neck at 29% and 28%, respectively. There is no ADA reserve contract on Polymarket.Optimism for an SOL Inclusion Helped Pitch for XRP

According to two sources familiar with the matter, in an effort to give the administration's proposal more legitimacy among the crypto community and to highlight that it was including several American tokens, Ripple Labs executives, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty, reportedly pitched President Trump to include SOL in the crypto reserve plan announced on Sunday.

The industry rumor mill had fluttered throughout the week with reports that the administration was planning to announce a U.S. crypto reserve, and speculation ran rampant online. Finally, on Sunday evening, Trump took to his Truth Social account to announce that the U.S. would be beginning to build a reserve of major digital assets to diversify government holdings.

"As part of our efforts to strengthen the U.S. economy, we will be diversifying government holdings to include the leading digital assets, beginning with Bitcoin, ether, and Litecoin. We will also be including several promising American tokens such as XRP, Solana, and Cardano in this initiative," Trump's post read.

This announcement was met with mixed reactions from the digital asset community. While many expressed surprise and amusement at the administration's initiative, others, such as ether maximalists, were less than impressed with the selection of tokens, especially the lack of ETH and the inclusion of XRP, which has been the subject of years of criticism as a largely speculative asset with insufficient usage to justify its $145 billion market capitalization. Several reports claimed that Trump's administration had been lobbying members of Congress to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Ripple against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The lawsuit centers around the SEC's classification of XRP as an unregistered security, which has been a major point of contention between the agency and crypto firms.

"President Trump’s administration has been lobbying members of Congress to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Ripple Labs against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to four sources familiar with the matter. This move comes amid broader efforts by the administration to create a U.S. crypto reserve and diversify government investments into digital assets.

The lawsuit, which was filed in December, centers around the SEC's classification of Ripple's token, XRP, as an unregistered security. This ruling, which was announced in December, has sparked widespread outrage among the crypto community. It also threatens to set a dangerous legal precedent that could have far-reaching consequences for the industry.

According to the sources, the administration is hoping to rally support in Congress for a legislative solution that would grant the SEC the power to register crypto tokens. This intervention is seen as a way to defuse the lawsuit and prevent the court from making a ruling that could set a legal precendent unfavorable to the agency.

"The administration is trying to head off any legal decision that would set a legal precendent for the industry and hopes to get Congress involved in winding down the lawsuit," one source said.

The move to include SOL in the hopes of appealing to the crypto community and highlighting that it was including several American tokens also comes amid broader efforts by the administration to diversify government investments into digital assets.

Earlier this year, the administration reportedly began exploring the feasibility of creating a U.S. crypto reserve as a way to diversify government investments and stay ahead of China's advances in the digital asset space. According to reports in March, the administration was considering investing in a basket of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

This initiative was met with mixed reactions from the digital asset community. While some expressed optimism for the move, others felt that it was long overdue.

"It's good to see the administration finally taking an interest in crypto and exploring new avenues for government investments," said Ben Armstrong, a crypto influencer and host of the "DeFi All Stars" podcast. "But it's surprising that they're considering investing in a basket of the top 10 coins. I would have thought they would start with Bitcoin and ether, which are the two largest and most well-known cryptocurrencies."

The administration's efforts to diversify government investments into digital assets are part of a broader