Bitcoin dominance slipped from 55.4% to below 50% in the hours after US President Donald Trump initially announced the country would include XRP, Solana and Cardano in its “Crypto Strategic Reserve.”
Trump later confirmed on Truth Social that Bitcoin (BTC) — and also Ether (ETH) — would be “at the heart of the reserve” — though his inclusion of altcoins left a sour taste in the mouths of several Bitcoiners — and even a Bitcoin critic.
Bitcoin’s dominance has slipped to 49.6% as the likes of Cardano (ADA) and XRP (XRP) increased 60.3% and 34.7%, respectively, over the last 24 hours.
Solana (SOL) and Ether are also up 25.5% and 13.1% over the same timeframe, while other altcoins that weren’t explicitly mentioned in Trump’s post have also gained. Bitcoin rose only 10% to $94,220.
The Trump administration’s move not to implement a Bitcoin-only reserve surprised some, including Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff, who couldn’t see the logic for including altcoins.
“I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve,” Schiff wrote. “I don’t agree with it, but I get it. We have a gold reserve. Bitcoin is digital gold, which is better than analog gold. So let’s create a Bitcoin reserve too.”
“But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?”
Meanwhile, Bitwise’s head of alpha strategies, Jeff Park, said it was a “huge political miscalculation by Trump in underestimating just how crucial it was for the Strategic Reserve to focus solely on Bitcoin.”
“The only crypto asset that makes any logical sense whatsoever as part of a country’s strategic reserve is Bitcoin,” Bitcoin custody solution Casa’s CEO Nick Neuman said.
“Infinite supply digital assets — especially ones with zero utility — do not fit the bill.”
Others, such as Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms, said the Crypto Strategic Reserve will “naturally become Bitcoin-only” as altcoins trend to zero relative to Bitcoin.
Related: Bitcoin isn’t a worthy reserve asset, Swiss National Bank president says: Report
The Crypto Strategic Reserve comes on the back of weeks of evaluation from the President’s newly formed Working Group on Digital Assets, led by executive director Bo Hines and David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar.
Trump will host the first White House Crypto Summit on March 7, inviting industry leaders to discuss regulatory policies and stablecoin oversight, which will be chaired by Sacks and administered by Hines.
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