The cryptocurrency market roared into March with a strong rally after former President Donald Trump announced plans for a U.S. Strategic Crypto Reserve, which will include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana’s SOL, and Cardano’s ADA.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, he explained that moving on from the January executive order on digital assets that the Trump Working Group announced on Monday, he would be creating a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL and ADA. He also boasted that he would make the U.S the crypto capital of the world.

As if it came only as an after thought, Trump added that he would also be adding BTC and ETH, as part of the proposed "Crypto Strategic Reserve" as well.

First mention of a "Crypto Strategic Reserve"

This is the first time Trump has referred to this plan as a "Crypto Strategic Reserve", whereas he has only used a more conservative term "stockpile."

Stockpile would refer to a more general term referring to the a passive accumulation of crypto assets held by the government through seizures, tax collections, without any ongoing purchases or adjustments.

Trump first introduced the idea of a Bitcoin stockpile at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville where he announced that the government would keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S government currently holds or acquires into the future.

But the term Crypto Strategic Reserve implies something entirely different; it assumes that the government will do something more actively with the digital assets it possess, like using it to buy even more crypto in regular installments.

Federico Brokate, head of the U.S business at 21shares, a digital assets investment management firm pointed out that the usage of the term "Crypto Strategic Reserve" may signify the government's shift towards a more active approach in crypto economy.

He adds that this approach could have the potential to accelerate institutional adoption, providing greater regulatory clarity and strengthen the U.S's leadership in digital asset innovation.

But all these are just assumptions made by the crypto community, while the exact details of Trump's plans remain unknown, including how much the government will actually buy and how the purchases would be funded.

Why wasn't Bitcoin the first pick?

Many also questioned why Trump chose assets such as XRP and ADA over other cryptocurrency like bitcoin or ether is not just bigger in name but also proved to have a better performance.

Some experts speculate that Trump's move to create a "Crypto Strategic Reserve" is more of an emotional move to fulfill his promise he made during his campaign trail to make the a strategic bitcoin reserve.

James Butterfill, head of research at asset manager CoinShare, said he was surprised to see digital assets other than bitcoin included in the reserve.

"Unlike bitcoin...these assets are more akin to tech investment. The announcement suggests a more patriotic stance towards the broader crypto technology space, with little regard for the fundamental qualities of these assets."

Andrew Tu, head of sales at crypto market, also said that Trump's decision to include XRP and ADA also came to a surprise to him. Both tokens had huge rallies on Sunday, leading gains across most digital assets.

The tokens Trump said would be included in the reserve are all among the top eight cryptocurrencies by market value, according to tracker CoinMarketCap.com.The only ones among the top eight that weren't included were Tether and USDC.

Market rallies following Trump's announcment

Following the announcement, the crypto market reacted sharply. XRP surged by 33%, Solana’s SOL saw a 25% jump, and Cardano’s ADA soared more than 60%.

Bitcoin climbed 10% to reach $94,343.82, recovering from a three-month low below $80,000. Ethereum, which has faced some of the steepest losses this year, rebounded with a 13% gain.

Before Trump’s announcement, Bitcoin had been consolidating and recently closed out its worst month since 2022.

The market had struggled to regain momentum following the executive order, but with the introduction of the strategic reserve proposal, investor sentiment appears to be shifting once again.

Conversely, Cardano, the cryptocurrency commonly known by its symbol ADA, surged more than 50%. SOL, short for the Solana blockchain's namesake token, jumped more than 20% and the Ripple-associated XRP rallied 30%.

Looking forward to the Crypto summit

With the White House Crypto Summit on the horizon, the industry is now eagerly awaiting more details on what could be a defining moment for the future of digital assets in the United States.

Trump is set to host the first-ever White House Crypto Summit on Friday, where investors and industry leaders will be watching closely for further details on his reserve strategy.

This marks a significant development, as it is the first time Trump has made a clear distinction between a crypto reserve, and what the future holds.