Donald Trump's plans for a "strategic crypto reserve" have set the markets alight in recent days, but launching one might not be easy.
The president has declared that Bitcoin and Ether will be at the "heart" of this stockpile—with XRP, Solana and Cardano also in the portfolio. There's just one problem: the U.S. government doesn't currently hold any of these three smaller cryptocurrencies… creating a dilemma.
When Trump had proposed a strategic Bitcoin reserve last year, he argued that 198,000 BTC seized from criminals should be treated as an investment, and not auctioned off by the Justice Department.
Uncle Sam also owns about 56,000 ETH with a current market value of $124 million, according to Arkham Intelligence. But throwing XRP, SOL and ADA into the mix presents Trump with two choices, and neither of them are palatable.
The first would be to use taxpayer dollars to buy these digital assets, which might attract both public and political pressure. His second option is to convert some of the BTC already in the Treasury's coffers, a move that would spark a backlash from Bitcoiners.
"Bitcoin strategic reserve" is likely to be confirmed at Friday's summit
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has suggested that greater clarity on this reserve will emerge when the president hosts a crypto summit at the White House on Friday.
Reports suggest it could end up looking radically different to what Trump had set out in his Truth Social post.
Lutnick told The Pavlovic Today that a "Bitcoin strategic reserve" is likely to be confirmed at Friday's summit, adding: "Then the other currencies, the other crypto tokens, I think, will be treated differently—positively, but differently."
Reading between the lines, this suggests that the White House has taken onboard staunch criticism from Bitcoiners, who have argued that altcoins should not be included in this reserve whatsoever.
It also raises a series of fresh questions. Does this mean the U.S. no longer plans to hold XRP, SOL and ADA in reserve? How big will this Bitcoin stockpile be? And will Trump back a proposed bill that calls for the U.S. to buy one million BTC over the next five years?
Whatever happens, it's almost certain that the crypto markets will see heightened volatility once this White House summit is over, as winners and losers from this strategic reserve announcement emerge.
And given the president may need congressional approval to get this policy over the line, it could be months before this reserve is created… if at all.
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