Trump's recent announcement of a U.S Strategic Crypto Reserve have triggered a variety of different reactions, from support to an elaborate discussion on which cryptocurrency should be chosen for this so called "U.S Strategic Crypto Reserve."
Calling a reserve build on cryptocurrencies a danger to decentralisation
But the Solana co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko is the first person to say no to the idea of a crypto reserves, expressing the potential dangers of centralisation if a government body were to take control over certain cryptocurrencies.
On his social media post, he shared his personal ideas of how an ideal cryptocurrency reserve would look like. On the top of his list is to have no such reserve at all, because he believes that a strategic reserve build on cryptocurrency would inadvertently cause decentralisation to fail.
Alternatively, he suggested that he would prefer states to run their own crypto reserves. Unlike Trump's idea of having a crypto reserve that is controlled by the federal government, Yakovenko is suggesting power to be divided between the different states and for each state to have their own hedge funds.
He explains that if each state had its own crypto reserve, it would protect them from potential financial missteps by the Federal Reserve, ensuring more decentralized control over digital assets and reducing national-level risks.
The discussion follows an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on March 2, outlining a list of digital assets to be included in a strategic crypto reserve. The proposed assets include XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ether (ETH). The move aims to establish a government-backed reserve of major cryptocurrencies, though it has sparked mixed reactions within the industry.
Following Trump's announcement, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant rally. XRP surged by 34%, SOL increased by 27%, and ADA soared more than 80%. Bitcoin also rebounded, rising over 10% to $94,343. Ether, which had seen some of the steepest declines earlier in the year, gained 19%.
Calls for measurable requirements for crypto reserves
Yakovenko also outlined a third preference, where he suggested imposing a clear, objectively measurable criteria for tokens included in a national reserve.
He stated that he did not have strong opinions on what these criteria should be, even if they currently only allowed bitcoin to qualify, as long as they were transparent and logically justified.
He also expressed his confidence that the Solana ecosystem would rise to meet any defined targets.
His remarks came in response to reports suggesting that Ripple had advocated for Solana’s inclusion in Trump’s proposed crypto reserve to add legitimacy to XRP’s selection.
When asked on social media if Solana representatives had pitched SOL to be included in the national crypto reserve, Yakovenko denied involvement.
"What's a Solana representative? At this point, it's honestly like saying a bitcoin representative. No one asked me, and I didn't pitch it."
Yakovenko is not alone in distancing himself from the initiative. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also denied having prior knowledge of ADA’s inclusion.
In a video posted on March 5, Hoskinson stated that no one consulted Cardano before the announcement, nor had any representatives been invited to an upcoming White House crypto roundtable.
While Hoskinson claims to have been left out, several prominent crypto executives have confirmed their attendance at the summit. The list includes Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, and others.