Brian Armstrong Advocates Bitcoin-Only US Crypto Reserve Following Trump Announcement
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has expressed a preference for Bitcoin as the primary asset in President Donald Trump's proposed crypto strategic reserve. Following Trump's Sunday announcement, Armstrong suggested on social media platform X that "Just Bitcoin would probably be the best option — simplest, and clear story as successor to gold."
Armstrong, who acknowledged he was still developing his thoughts on asset allocation, offered an alternative approach as well. "If folks wanted more variety, you could do a market cap-weighted index of crypto assets to keep it unbiased. But probably option #1 is easiest," he wrote on Sunday night ET.
The Coinbase executive's comments came in response to President Trump's social media post outlining plans for a "Crypto Strategic Reserve" that would include Bitcoin and Ethereum. Trump also indicated he has directed his crypto working group to proceed with including SOL, XRP, and ADA in the reserve.
President Trump's announcement builds on his January executive order that tasked a Presidential Working Group on Crypto, led by Bo Hines, with evaluating a potential national digital asset stockpile. The federal government already owns approximately $17 billion in Bitcoin and $120 million in Ethereum, according to Arkham. Trump's latest directive comes just days before his scheduled White House Crypto Summit, where he will address industry leaders in an event chaired by AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks.
Not all industry figures shared Armstrong's enthusiasm. Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX, downplayed the announcement's significance. "Nothing new here. Just words. [Let me know] when they get congressional approval to borrow money and or revalue the gold price higher. Without that, they have no money to buy bitcoin and shitcoins," Hayes wrote on X.
The announcement triggered substantial market movement across major cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin increased over 8%
- Ethereum rose 11%
- XRP jumped 31%
- Solana gained 20%
- Cardano surged 68%
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao took a more optimistic view of Trump's plan. "Chill guys. No need to overanalyze," Zhao posted on X alongside a screenshot of Trump's announcement. "More 'valuable crypto' are likely to be added over time. More countries will follow. It's a fantastic start of something really good. Be happy. Keep building."
