3-3-2025 – Coinbase’s chief executive, Brian Armstrong, has offered his perspective on the recently unveiled cryptocurrency reserve initiative by US President Donald Trump, advocating for a streamlined approach centred exclusively on Bitcoin.

“Just Bitcoin would probably be the best option — simplest, and clear story as successor to gold,” Armstrong remarked via social platform X on Sunday evening. He acknowledged his views were still developing regarding optimal asset allocation strategies, adding that a market capitalisation-weighted cryptocurrency index could provide an unbiased alternative, though he ultimately favoured the Bitcoin-centric approach for its simplicity.

Armstrong’s commentary emerged following Trump’s announcement of his “Crypto Strategic Reserve” scheme, which the President indicated would incorporate not only Bitcoin and Ethereum but also SOL, XRP and ADA, according to instructions given to his cryptocurrency working group.

The announcement has triggered significant market movements, with Bitcoin values climbing more than 8% and Ethereum experiencing an 11% increase within 24 hours. Other cryptocurrencies mentioned in Trump’s statement recorded even more dramatic gains, with Cardano surging by 68%, XRP by 31%, and Solana by 20%.

Not all industry figures share Armstrong’s enthusiasm, however. Arthur Hayes, who co-founded BitMEX, expressed scepticism about the substance behind Trump’s declaration: “Nothing new here. Just words. Let me know when they get congressional approval to borrow money and or revalue the gold price higher. Without that, they have no money to buy bitcoin and shitcoins.”

Taking a more optimistic stance, former Binance founder Changpeng Zhao urged the community to temper its analysis: “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.”