Ripple CEO Praises Crypto Reserve Plan After XRP Inclusion; CZ Urges Calm Over BNB Exclusion

Highlights:

• Ripple CEO praises Trump’s strategic reserve vision, calling for industry unity over maximalist mindset.
• Garlinghouse backs the multichain approach and pledges to advocate for crypto at the White House crypto summit.
• Binance’s CZ urges calm over BNB’s exclusion, anticipating future inclusion in strategic reserves.

On March 2, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a plan to create a crypto strategic reserve that includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Ripples’ native token XRP, and Cardano (ADA). The announcement, shared on social media, sparked a sharp market rally, driving notable price gains across major digital assets.

After the announcement, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse appreciated Trump’s vision of a government digital asset and stressed the need for collaboration in the crypto industry. He also mentioned that maximalism hinders the industry’s advancement. This comment appears to target those opposing crypto assets other than Bitcoin in the strategic reserve.

Garlinghouse expressed satisfaction with the US president recognizing that market participants operate in a multichain environment. He also noted that the industry is moving beyond Bill Hinman’s views and the SEC’s “very broken thinking” under the Biden administration.

The Ripple CEO shared his plans to defend the industry in Washington, stating: “I will certainly continue to advocate for this when I am in Washington this weekend.” Trump will host the inaugural White House crypto summit on Friday. The event will gather industry leaders and the Digital Asset Working Group to discuss the future of U.S. crypto regulations.

I’ve said this before – the crypto industry will achieve our goals (and beyond), IF WE WORK TOGETHER. Appreciate the crypto President @realDonaldTrump’s vision of a govt digital asset reserve representative of the industry.

Maximalism is the enemy of the industry’s progress.… https://t.co/GiAAI1NuRk

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 2, 2025

Yesterday, Trump first revealed that the strategic reserve will feature Solana, Cardano, and XRP. An hour later, he confirmed that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other “valuable cryptocurrencies” would also be part of it. The crypto market bounced back following the news, with SOL, ADA, and XRP seeing the biggest gains in the past 24 hours.

BNB’s Absence in Crypto Strategic Reserve Sparks Speculation, CZ Hints Future Inclusion

Although the selected coins for the crypto reserve rank among the top 10, BNB’s absence has sparked speculation despite its $86 billion market cap. In a post on X, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said Trump’s initial picks for the Crypto Strategic Reserve are “clearly US coins.” He mentions Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse as an example.

He encouraged the community to stay calm and avoid overanalyzing BNB’s exclusion from the Crypto Strategic Reserve. CZ pointed out that President Trump mentioned the inclusion of “other valuable cryptocurrencies” in the future.

The Binance founder stated that other countries will launch their Crypto Strategic Reserves in the coming months. He hinted that BNB could be included in these reserves. 

Attention of all bag holders is on this one word now. 🤣

Chill guys. No need to overanalyze.

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. pic.twitter.com/rJY53G6s9n

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) March 2, 2025

Experts Warn Against Including Altcoins in US Crypto Strategic Reserve

In a post on X, Alex Xu, a research partner at Mint Ventures, warned that including SOL, ADA, and XRP could undermine the concept of a Bitcoin-only strategic reserve. He also noted that this might lower the chances of Congress approving the Bitcoin reserve bill.

Echoing similar sentiments, Bitwise’s head of alpha strategies, Jeff Park, called Trump’s decision a “huge political miscalculation.” He argued that Trump underestimated the necessity of keeping the Strategic Reserve exclusively focused on Bitcoin. Park stressed that maintaining Bitcoin as the reserve’s core was essential.

Huge political miscalculation by Trump in underestimating just how crucial it was for the Strategic Reserve to focus solely on Bitcoin.

Sad!

— Jeff Park (@dgt10011) March 2, 2025

Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Riot Platforms, believes the Crypto Strategic Reserve will “naturally become Bitcoin-only” as altcoins lose value against Bitcoin.

As altcoins inevitably demonetize and trend to zero relative to bitcoin, the strategic reserve will naturally become bitcoin-only.

Folks, this is Economics 101.

— Pierre Rochard (@BitcoinPierre) March 2, 2025