President Trump's Crypto Gambit

Jeff Hasselman founded the blockchain and crypto business at Amazon Web Services, and now invests in and advises cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups as CEO of 926 Ventures.

Most of my crypto colleagues are celebrating President Trump’s announcement regarding the establishment of a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve. However, some are apoplectic over the inclusion of altcoins such as Cardano (ADA), XRP (Ripple), and, to a lesser extent, Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), rather than focusing solely on bitcoin.

What many have yet to realize is that Trump’s inclusion of altcoins is yet another example of his mastery of negotiation; as usual, he’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. By starting with multiple cryptocurrencies rather than just bitcoin, Trump has created a brilliant opening position that he can later “concede” by eliminating altcoins. Doing so will enable him to achieve his ultimate goal of establishing a bitcoin-only reserve with bipartisan support (or, more realistically, less partisan resistance) — a textbook move straight out of The Art of the Deal.

The President understands that U.S. strategic reserves exist to protect against supply disruptions and economic shocks, rather than to seek investment returns. For example, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists to strengthen our national energy security, rather than moderate prices at the pump. Similarly, a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve would exist to stabilize our economy in volatile times, rather than to optimize taxpayer investments (although at its anticipated growth rate, it likely will).

Bitcoin’s inherent traits make it an ideal reserve asset. It has a decentralized governance model with a fixed supply of tokens, as well as the longest track record coupled with the highest level of security protecting it. In fact, bitcoin’s security strengthens every 10 minutes with the addition of every newly mined block. And, unlike altcoins, bitcoin has no central development control, meaning no single entity can alter its protocol, rendering bitcoin immune to political manipulation and corporate influence.

In contrast, the altcoins included in Trump’s initial proposal have centralized development teams, are subject to significant protocol changes, and operate under fundamentally different security models. These realities make them more vulnerable to the very things a strategic reserve should hedge against. Thus, incorporating altcoins into a Strategic Reserve would set a dangerous precedent and beg the question: why not add stocks like Amazon, Nvidia, and Google to the Strategic Reserve too? Limiting the conversation to bitcoin enables us to avoid the very influences we want to eliminate, and maintain the integrity of a true national reserve asset.

The need for a bitcoin reserve is particularly urgent now, given America’s current economic challenges. Our federal debt exceeds $34 trillion and continues to grow, creating vulnerabilities such as debt service costs, foreign dependency, rollover risk, and declining credit quality — all of which threaten our financial stability. Meanwhile, the global financial system is also showing signs of fragility, with banking instability and increasing de-dollarization efforts, including BRICS expansion and the use of financial sanctions as a geopolitical tool. Further, inflationary pressures, which linger despite recent attempts at moderation, remain a structural risk due to factors like monetary expansion, supply chain restructuring, and asset inflation.

Bitcoin provides a solution to each of these challenges by offering a monetary network that operates outside of traditional financial systems. Thus, bitcoin is unable to be shut down, manipulated, or censored. Moreover, its fixed supply ensures that its purchasing power can never be diluted through inflationary monetary policies. Unlike traditional financial assets, bitcoin is now a sovereign asset, meaning that it cannot simultaneously be another entity’s liability. Its global neutrality allows it to function outside of geopolitical control structures, making it uniquely positioned to serve as a strategic asset that protects America against inherent systemic risks.

Critics argue that bitcoin’s volatility disqualifies it from achieving strategic reserve status. However, volatility is a feature not a bug, and should be viewed as a benefit, rather than a liability, when considering long-term strategic reserves. Unlike stocks, strategic reserves operate on decades-long timeframes, rather than quarterly earnings cycles, rendering short-term price swings irrelevant. A gradual accumulation strategy, such as dollar-cost averaging, should mitigate any lingering concerns about the timing of entry points as well. Bitcoin’s mathematical scarcity and increasing demand offer an asymmetric upside by preserving purchasing power over the long term. And bitcoin’s volatility — which is common for all new technologies, from the internet to AI — has declined with each market cycle as adoption grows and institutional infrastructure matures.

A U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is more than a wise investment — it’s one that will safeguard our nation against financial instability. Bitcoin’s distinctive properties make it the ideal reserve asset for an evolving financial landscape — something that President Trump and his advisors clearly understand.

Thus, the President’s strategic play is clear. By including altcoins at the outset, he creates room for negotiation that will enable him to guide policymakers toward a bitcoin-only reserve. While critics focus on day-to-day price movements, the real question has nothing to do with bitcoin’s short-term volatility, but whether future generations will have stabilizing monetary tools when they need them most.

This is the real game being played. While others debate altcoins, Trump is positioning America for long-term financial resilience by paving a path for bitcoin as a strategic asset. And by the time his political opponents. realize the game board has shifted, he’ll be perfectly positioned to declare “checkmate.”