Why XRP and ADA don’t deserve to be on Trump’s Strategic Crypto Reserve

Donald Trump’s Truth Social post set off a firestorm after he claimed he had directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward with a Crypto Strategic Reserve. He named Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano as part of it. That instantly raised eyebrows in the crypto world.

Is the U.S. government really planning to acquire a stash of cryptocurrencies, or is this just another vague promise? Nobody knows. The post didn’t explain how this reserve would be built, whether taxpayer money would be used, or if it’s just a way to consolidate assets seized from criminals. But one thing is clear: Bitcoin is the only asset that actually makes sense for a government reserve, and many experts agree.

Winklevoss twins reject XRP and ADA for strategic use

Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, didn’t hold back: “I have nothing against XRP, SOL, or ADA but I do not think they are suitable for a Strategic Reserve. Only one digital asset in the world right now meets the bar and that digital asset is Bitcoin.” He pointed out that an asset in a government reserve needs to be hard money, a proven store of value, and that many crypto projects simply do not meet that standard.

I have nothing against XRP, SOL, or ADA but I do not think they are suitable for a Strategic Reserve. Only one digital asset in the world right now meets the bar and that digital asset is bitcoin.

Many of these assets are listed for trading on @Gemini and meet our rigorous… pic.twitter.com/q32qlaFDKJ

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) March 3, 2025

His twin brother Cameron Winklevoss agreed. He found it bizarre that some of these coins were even considered. He said, “Bitcoin is the only asset that meets the bar for a store of value reserve asset. Maybe Ethereum. Digital gold and digital oil.” He compared it to America’s physical reserves of gold (stored in Fort Knox and the NY Fed) and oil (Strategic Petroleum Reserve).

Cameron made a small exception. He said if the U.S. happens to acquire coins like XRP or ADA through seizures, forfeitures, or law enforcement actions, that’s one thing—but actively buying them for a reserve is another.

XRP and ADA have no real utility compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum

The biggest argument against XRP and ADA is their lack of real-world utility compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Journalist Joe Weisenthal from Bloomberg pointed out that Ethereum and Solana actually power major financial activity. Stablecoins, DeFi, and NFTs all run heavily on these chains. But when it comes to XRP and Cardano, he said, “So far as I can recall, I have never come across a Cardano or XRP-based NFT in the wild.”

He highlighted a key problem: Why are XRP and ADA in the top 10 market cap when barely anything is built on them? He noted that Ethereum’s market cap is less than twice that of XRP’s, even though Ethereum powers almost all decentralized finance.

Trump’s announcement frustrated serious crypto investors because XRP and ADA simply don’t see the level of real adoption that Bitcoin, Ethereum, or even Solana have. Weisenthal quoted people in the space saying, “There’s nothing real there! Hardly anyone is building on these chains! You can’t find much stablecoin activity on them!”

XRP and ADA are popular for the wrong reasons

Another strange thing about XRP and ADA is who actually holds them. JP Koning, a well-known monetary blogger, pointed out that a huge chunk of XRP and ADA holders are just YouTubers hyping altcoins. He argued that the “real crypto industry” is the people pumping these coins online, not the ones actually building financial systems.

There’s also a psychological factor at play. Many of the biggest cryptos, like Dogecoin, XRP, and ADA, have low nominal values per coin. That makes them seem “cheap” to new investors, even if they have massive market caps. Someone with $1,000 to invest can buy thousands of XRP or ADA tokens, while they’d only get a fraction of a Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Of course, anyone with a basic understanding of financial markets knows that unit price means nothing. But the reality is, there are people who think low price = cheap = good investment. That’s one of the reasons why XRP and ADA still have massive followings, despite their lack of real use.

No clear plan, no clear justification

The biggest problem with Trump’s Crypto Strategic Reserve idea is that nobody actually knows what it means. There was no explanation of:

• How this reserve would be built
• Whether taxpayer money would be spent
• If the government is just consolidating seized crypto

Weisenthal summed it up perfectly: “Will the government be spending money to build a crypto equivalent of Fort Knox, that includes random coins like XRP?” Or is this just another announcement that never leads to action?