Trump’s Secret Crypto Plans: USDC, SOL, and XRP in the Spotlight While Bitcoin Faces the Cold Shoulder?

Fresh updates from the cryptocurrency scene reveal that President-elect Donald Trump might be planning to create a strategic reserve that will give preference to cryptocurrencies based in the US. Sources close to the matter told the New York Post that this potential reserve could focus on cryptos like USD Coin (USDC), Solana (SOL), and XRP, while leaving Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, out in the cold. This speculation has created quite a stir in the crypto community, especially following Trump's meeting with Ripple executives and the subsequent social media discussions.

Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a brief to appeal a previous ruling in its case against Ripple Labs. The SEC is trying to overturn a ruling that said XRP, when sold to retail investors, was not an unregistered securities offering. Ripple's chief legal officer criticized the filing, saying the arguments were not new.

In another interesting development, the US government has decided to return the Bitcoin that was seized from the 2016 Bitfinex hack to the exchange. Legal motions propose the restitution of about 94,643 BTC and additional amounts from hard forks. At the time of the hack, the stolen Bitcoin was valued at $72 million, which has now increased to over $11.8 billion, raising questions about Bitfinex's compensation strategies for the victims of the hack.