Crypto Soars Then Plunges Following Trump’s Post About a Strategic Reserve

Donald Trump’s touch is poison. On Sunday morning the President took to Truth Social to juice the numbers of the cryptocurrencies XRP, SOL, and ADA. He said they’d be part of the forthcoming U.S. Crypto Reserve. For a while after the post, the number went up. But now it’s coming back down again.

“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” Trump said on Truth Social. “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

In a second post he added everyone’s preferred crypto. “And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be the heart of the Reserve. I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!” He said an hour later.

Trump’s posts spiked the price of all five cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices soared after Trump won the election, after his inauguration, and after he signed an executive order promising to establish a U.S. Strategic Reserve of cryptocurrency. But the prices always slide back down. Trump is volatile and doesn’t always do what he’s promised. There is, as of this writing, still no strategic reserve and crypto prices are sliding after the most recent rally.

Bloomberg has labeled the recent rise and fall the “Trump Pump.” All five that Trump mentioned are still above where they were a month ago, but rather than go to the moon, they’re coming back down to Earth.

The problem is that no one knows how Trump will actually create a strategic reserve. He’s suggested in the past that he’ll cobble it together from seized assets gained during federal investigations. If regulations loosen, as they appear to be, then there’ll be less coming in to add to the reserve. He may also revalue the price of America’s gold reserve and use some of that money to buy crypto. But that’s also yet to materialize.

February was a month of decline for cryptocurrencies. They slid more overall than they had since 2022. The Trump Pump lasted barely 24 hours, and the prices of all five coins have already fallen 10% or more from their heights just hours ago.

Hours after initiating the Trump Pump, the President announced a more far-reaching and consequential bit of policy. He was making America great for shell companies again. “Exciting news! The Treasury Department has announced that they are suspending all enforcement of the outrageous and invasive Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement for U.S. Citizens,” he said on Truth Social.

BOI required companies with fewer than 20 employees to register their business with the government. Big corporations often use tiny companies to help them hide illegal assets and illicit activities, and those tiny companies often have less than 20 employees and get to skip all kinds of government regulations that kick in when a company gets bigger. Trump has made it easier for big corporations to use smaller ones to hide stuff.

Big Business keeps winning. Cryptocurrencies keep floundering, waiting for the next Trump Pump.