The Blubber

U.S. President Donald Trump courted the cryptocurrency industry’s top figures at the White House on Friday, hosting a groundbreaking summit centered on his vision for a government-owned reserve of digital assets.

Trump welcomed a diverse group of industry leaders, including Zach Witkoff, a co-founder of the president’s own crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, according to his social media posts.

Alongside top administration officials and lawmakers, attendees gathered in the White House’s State Dining Room included MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and entrepreneur David Bailey.

A key focus of the event was Trump’s push to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, a plan formalized in an executive order issued Thursday. The order also outlined plans to stockpile other digital assets.

The directive instructed the Treasury and Commerce secretaries to craft “budget-neutral strategies” for acquiring additional bitcoin without imposing “incremental costs” on taxpayers.

“We don’t want any cost to the taxpayers,” Trump emphasized at the summit.

White House crypto czar David Sacks clarified on social media platform X that the reserve will be funded using bitcoin previously seized by the federal government through criminal or civil asset forfeiture cases.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Sacks argued that establishing a bitcoin reserve was long overdue. He assured that taxpayer funds would not be used to purchase digital assets and that safeguards were in place to protect consumers from risky crypto investments.

However, some in the market were disappointed, having anticipated a concrete plan for purchasing new tokens. The announcement pressured bitcoin prices, with the cryptocurrency last down 3.4% at $86,394.

“This (strategic reserve) is going to be a major sticking point for many of us,” said JP Richardson, co-founder and CEO of Exodus, a bitcoin wallet developer. While he owns the four cryptocurrencies besides bitcoin that Trump has proposed including in the reserve, he believes they don’t belong in a strategic reserve.

“Crypto has come a long way, but it’s still an emerging industry,” Richardson noted, adding that the smaller coins operate in fundamentally different ways that could introduce additional risks.

Applause and Praise for Trump’s Crypto Push

Officials at the summit lauded Trump and his team for fostering an environment that promotes the industry’s expansion. Some executives expressed relief at the administration’s collaborative approach after years of feeling under regulatory scrutiny over security and consumer protection concerns.

“For the first time, industry leaders feel they’re engaging in a productive dialogue,” said Les Borsai, co-founder of Wave Digital Assets, a crypto investment advisory firm, though he noted he had not been invited.

Trump struck an optimistic tone about the industry’s future, telling attendees, “We feel like pioneers in a way.”

He added: “From this day on, America will follow the rule that every bitcoin holder knows well—never sell your bitcoin. That’s a little phrase they have. I don’t know if it’s right or not. Who the hell knows, right? Who knows? But so far, it’s been right, and let’s keep it that way.”

Trump’s executive order explicitly states that the government’s bitcoin holdings should never be sold.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured attendees that the U.S. dollar would remain the world’s reserve currency but indicated that stablecoins would play a role in maintaining its dominance.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who attended the summit, praised Trump’s acknowledgment that the cryptocurrency landscape extends beyond bitcoin. In a post on X, Garlinghouse welcomed Trump’s openness to considering other digital assets, including XRP—the cryptocurrency tied to Ripple—as part of a potential government-backed reserve.

Industry leaders left the event hopeful for a streamlined regulatory approach under an administration that views crypto as a legitimate asset class.

“What everyone really needs right now is clarity on the regulatory framework—what the level of scrutiny will be, who the key regulators are,” said Yesha Yadav, associate dean and professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

Such clarity, she noted, could accelerate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of a wave of new exchange-traded funds tied to digital assets.

Conflict-of-Interest Concerns Over Trump’s Crypto Ties

Trump’s personal involvement in the crypto space has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. His family has launched cryptocurrency meme coins, and he retains a stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform.

His aides have stated that Trump has relinquished control over his business ventures, which are under review by external ethics lawyers. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.