Trump’s Crypto Hype Fizzles: Why Investors Aren’t Buying In
Trump’s latest crypto comments sent prices soaring—but without clear policy moves or promises of government purchases, the market’s enthusiasm quickly faded.
President Trump’s social media posts over the weekend about a potential U.S. strategic crypto reserve sent cryptocurrency prices soaring—but the rally quickly lost steam as investors questioned what his statements actually meant for crypto demand.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the two largest cryptocurrencies—bitcoin and ether—initially rose in response to Trump's comments: The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) rose as much as 11% and 7%, respectively, on Monday.
But IBIT finished the day up by only 2%, while ETHA closed down by more than 4%. What happened?
Strategic Crypto Reserve Questions
On the surface, Trump’s comments were overwhelmingly bullish for crypto. The idea of the U.S. government owning digital assets would be an unprecedented endorsement of the asset class. But questions remain: What would a U.S. strategic crypto reserve look like? What assets would it hold? How much would it buy? And most importantly, will this ever actually happen?
Realistically, creating such a reserve would likely require congressional approval—something that seems unlikely given a closely divided Congress. Some believe the government won’t buy new crypto at all but will simply hold onto assets it has already acquired from seized funds related to crypto-related crime.
Uncertainty has swirled around this idea ever since Trump first floated it on the campaign trail. His latest social media posts didn’t add much clarity, which may explain the relatively subdued response in spot bitcoin and ether ETFs.
XRP, SOL and ADA Steal the Spotlight
The reaction was stronger in XRP, Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA)—three cryptocurrencies that currently don’t have U.S.-listed ETFs. Many were surprised that Trump highlighted these assets as potential holdings for a U.S. crypto reserve. In fact, his initial post over the weekend didn’t even mention bitcoin or ether—he only referenced them in a follow-up.
Some in the crypto community expressed shock—and even frustration—over the idea that these three controversial assets might be part of the reserve.
Bullish Catalysts No Longer Moving the Needle
The lackluster reaction to Trump’s announcement boils down to three factors: a lack of details, a focus on assets many see as speculative and a growing perception that Trump is out of touch with the broader crypto industry.
Despite Trump’s pro-crypto stance, crypto markets remain in a correction, with prices well off their recent highs. Bullish catalysts—like his latest comments—are failing to spark sustained gains. Investors are looking for more concrete signs of government adoption, but that doesn’t seem imminent.
Granted, bitcoin prices are still up from where they were prior to the presidential election, but other assets like ether and SOL have given up nearly all of their post-election gains.
In other words, while Trump may be the most pro-crypto president ever, his policies have yet to translate into the big gains in cryptocurrency prices that many investors in the space were hoping for.
