ADA, XRP, and TRUMP score largest daily gains as strategic reserve announcement boosts crypto market

The overall cryptocurrency market has grown by nearly 20% over the last 48 hours after President Trump's recent announcement boosted prices, with many coins recouping their losses from the selloff in late February. 

President Trump's announcement of a Crypto Strategic Reserve, which will hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and XRP, and possibly more coins to be announced, led to widespread gains in the crypto market. 

The four best performing cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours, of those with a market cap more than $1 billion, were Cardano, XRP, the Official Trump memecoin, and Solana, according to The Block's price data. BNB rose the least out of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, excluding stablecoins, though it still gained 2.55% over the past day. 

The GMUSA index of U.S.-based cryptocurrencies performed the best out of all the GMCI indices, rising nearly 25% in the past 24 hours. The GMCI indices were launched in February 2024 by The Block and Wintermute. 

"President Trump has announced a Crypto Strategic Reserve consisting of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies. This is consistent with his week-one E.O. 14178," White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks wrote on X. "More to come at the Summit," he added, referencing Friday's upcoming event. 

Trump's crypto executive order signed in January calls on a working group to evaluate the creation of a "national digital asset stockpile...potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts." Trump's posts on Sunday mark the first time he referred to the stockpile as a "Crypto Strategic Reserve." The terms "reserve" and "stockpile" have been used interchangeably by some, but signify key differences. 

Crypto Reserve, not Bitcoin Reserve 

Some influential technology and crypto industry figures, alongside so-called "Bitcoin maximalists," have criticized Trump's announcement that cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin would be included in the proposed reserve. 

"The US taxpayer should not be exit liquidity for cryptocurrencies that are decentralized in name only," wrote Naval Ravikant, the AngelList co-founder and Silicon Valley thought leader. "If it has a lobbyist, it isn’t decentralized," he added. 

"The good: strategic crypto reserve in works / The bad: missing DeFi / The ugly: XRP, SOL and ADA," wrote Aave founder Stani Kulechov. 

"I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve. 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," wrote vocal Bitcoin and crypto critic Peter Schiff. "But what's the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?"