Trump Announces Five Digital Assets to Be Included in New US Strategic Reserve

US President Donald Trump took to social media on Sunday to announce five digital assets he plans to include in a new US strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies, leading to a surge in their market values.

output: US President Donald Trump took to social media on Sunday to announce five digital assets that he plans to include in a new US strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies, leading to a surge in their market values.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that his January executive order on digital assets would create a stockpile featuring Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana and Cardano. The list had not been disclosed before.

“The US Strategic Digital Asset Reserve will be announced on January 17th. We are rolling out five coins/tokens for the initial batch. They are BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL and ADA.

And, obviously, BTC and ETH will be at the heart of the Reserve, as other valuable cryptocurrencies. We'll be making some great moves in 2024!” Trump said.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, rose over 11% to $94,164 by Sunday afternoon. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, gained around 13% to $2,516.

The total cryptocurrency market has surged about 10%, adding over $300 billion in value, following Trump’s announcement about a new US strategic reserve for digital assets, according to CoinGecko, a cryptocurrency data and analysis firm.

Among the assets mentioned, XRP is the token linked to Ripple Labs, which recently supported a super PAC intended to influence congressional elections in November to benefit the cryptocurrency sector, as reported by Reuters.

“This move signals a shift toward active participation by the US government in the crypto economy. It could accelerate institutional adoption, provide greater regulatory clarity and ultimately strengthen the US’s leadership in digital asset innovation,” said Federico Brokate, head of US business at digital assets investment firm 21Shares.

But James Butterfill, head of research at asset manager CoinShares, expressed surprise at the inclusion of digital assets other than Bitcoin in the reserve.

“Unlike Bitcoin, these assets are more akin to tech investments. This announcement suggests a patriotic stance toward the broader crypto technology space, with minimal concern for the fundamental qualities of these assets or the total market cap of the coins.”