Analyst warns of US is weaponizing crypto for national interests

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju has warned about the weaponization of crypto by the United States, noting that this could negatively impact the industry. In a tweet, the crypto executive noted that the industry now revolves around what benefits the US and President Donald Trump’s administration.

According to Young Ju, the approach to regulation since Trump’s election has been that anything that benefits the US interests and President Donald Trump’s administration is no longer illegal. In his opinion, this is why the markets have become deregulated even though there are no proper regulations to prevent bad actors.

He said:

“One thing was made clear: “Follow the Trump administration’s agenda and contribute to U.S. national interests.” This principle was firmly established, and the issuance of Trump meme coins symbolized it.”

However, he criticized picking crypto assets because they serve the US national interest.  his view, any token that serves US interests will likely work against the interests of other nations.

Bitcoin and Ethereum neutrality is a risk

Meanwhile, Young Ju believes that Bitcoin and Ethereum could face existential risks in the US because they are neutral and aim to serve a global audience.

He said:

“Judging by Trump’s recent posts, it seems that Bitcoin and Ethereum are now being signaled as “neither friend nor foe.”

This opinion is based on Trump’s posts announcing the launch of the crypto reserve. In his post on Truth Social, Trump initially said that XRP, SOL, and ADA would be in the Crypto Strategic Reserve. A few hours later, he added that BTC and ETH would be key assets in the reserve, noting that he loves the two cryptocurrencies.

Young Ju interpreted the time of post to mean that Trump is asking for the two assets to show their strategic value to the US.

He wrote:

“Can I interpret his tweets this way? “BTC and ETH, show me your strategic value—for me and the USA. I just closed a deal with XRP, SOL, and ADA.”

However, not everyone agrees with the opinion. One user explained that it is possible that Trump did not mention BTC and ETH initially because he assumed that people would know that they are automatically part of the reserves.

Crypto market sheds all the gains from Crypto Reserve announcement

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is back to $85,000 after shedding more than 8% in value to wipe off all its gains from the crypto reserve announcement. The flagship asset, which rose as high as $94,000 after yesterday’s announcement, has been in freefall since then.

Other cryptocurrencies have also plunged in value, with ETH down 15%, XRP by 16%, ADA by 16%, and SOL by 17%. While the reason behind the decline is unclear, it highlights how the mostly negative sentiments that trailed Trump’s announcement.

Even as the market rose immediately at the time, many stakeholders criticized the decision to use a crypto reserve instead of a Bitcoin reserve. The inclusion of XRP and ADA attracted even more criticism from popular crypto sleuth ZachXBT, who noted that the two blockchains do not have integrations from major stablecoin issuers.