Us President, Donald Trump on Sunday named five cryptocurrencies under consideration for a new US “strategic reserve,” sending their values skyrocketing and partly reversing a recent slump.
In a post to his Truth Social network, the US president said a working group he set up shortly after taking office is moving forward with the reserve, which will include three smaller cryptocurrencies: XRP, Solana, and Cardano.
The value of all three digital currencies shot up on the news, with XRP trading up around 34 per cent at 1:00 pm local time in Washington (1800 GMT). Solana gained around 22 percent and Cardano rose more than 63 percent.
A few minutes later, Trump posted again, noting that other valuable cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ether would be at “the heart of the Reserve,” causing the price of the two major digital currencies to rise more than 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.
Trump’s posts helped spur a broad rally among cryptocurrencies, which had plummeted in recent days as Trump’s tariff threats and new scandals affecting the sector shook investor confidence in the highly volatile assets.
Sunday’s posts are not the first time that Trump and those in his orbit have weighed in on the crypto sector.
Both Trump and his wife Melania recently launched their own branded meme coins, sparking accusations that they were seeking to make money from his political success.
And the billionaire chief executive Elon Musk — a close political ally whom Trump has tasked with leading a government efficiency drive — has frequently promoted cryptocurrencies on his own social media network, X
XRP is the cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs’ token. Ripple backed a so-called super PAC to influence congressional elections in November in favour of the crypto industry, Reuters reported.
“This move signals a shift toward active participation in the crypto economy by the U.S.
government,” said Federico Brokate, head of U.S. business at 21Shares, a digital assets investment management firm. “It has the potential to accelerate institutional adoption, provide greater regulatory clarity, and strengthen the U.S.’s leadership in digital asset innovation.”
James Butterfill, head of research at asset manager CoinShares, said he was surprised to see digital assets other than Bitcoin included in the reserve.
“Unlike bitcoin…these assets are more akin to tech investments,” Butterfill said. “The announcement suggests a more patriotic stance toward the broader crypto technology space, with little regard for the fundamental qualities of these assets.”.
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