On Sunday, US President Donald Trump unveiled a Strategic Crypto Reserve featuring multiple digital assets: Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA). Many observers were initially surprised to see altcoins—particularly XRP, SOL, and ADA—in a federal-level announcement once presumed to revolve solely around Bitcoin. Now, new revelations from Unchained suggest that Ripple may have brokered the inclusion of Solana through backdoor lobbying to bolster XRP’s credibility in the eyes of policymakers and the crypto community.
Has Ripple Pushed SOL And ADA Into The Reserve?
A report by Unchained suggests that Ripple Labs executives championed Solana’s addition in an effort to avoid suspicion that President Trump’s reserve would only benefit XRP. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty pitched the White House on the importance of having multiple US-based tokens in any federally endorsed crypto basket.
Several commentators note that Ripple understood it would appear questionable to promote a reserve that included XRP but not other high-profile altcoins. One analyst pointed to the fact that Solana and Cardano are widely perceived as more neutral or “community-driven” than XRP, which has been the subject of ongoing speculation regarding its scale and legitimacy.
Interestingly, many observers found it odd that Trump did not mention Bitcoin and Ether in his first public post on Truth Social, despite their top market status. By contrast, XRP, SOL, and ADA were explicitly named first. This sequence seemed misaligned with market norms and has led to further questions about the Trump administration’s real intentions.
When pressed for clarity on whether Ripple had specifically recommended Solana be added to make XRP’s presence in the reserve more palatable, a Ripple press representative directed reporters to a Sunday tweet by CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
“I’ve said this before – the crypto industry will achieve our goals (and beyond), IF WE WORK TOGETHER. I appreciate the crypto President @realDonaldTrump’s vision of a government digital asset reserve representative of the industry. Maximalism is the enemy of the industry’s progress. Glad to see POTUS recognizing we live in a multichain world and that we’re finally moving past Bill Hinman and the Biden administration’s SEC’s very broken thinking. I will certainly continue to champion this while in Washington at the end of this week.”
Notably, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is skeptical of the concept of a government-controlled crypto reserve. Via X, he posted:
“My reserve order of preference
No reserve, because if you want decentralization to fail you’d put the government in charge of it.
Or states run their own reserve as a hedge against the fed making a mistake.
Or if there has to be a reserve, it’s based on objectively measurable requirements. … If there is a target to beat, the Solana ecosystem will get it done.”
When pressed by Unchained’s Laura Shin, Yakovenko later emphasized that he had no knowledge of Solana being pitched by anyone, especially from Ripple. He remarked, “What’s a Solana representative? At this point it’s honestly like saying a bitcoin representative. No one asked me, and I didn’t pitch it.”
Meanwhile, Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, echoed a similar sentiment in a March 5 video: “We knew nothing about ADA being selected for the reserve. It was news to me.” This brings to light the possibility that Ripple might have also pushed ADA into the reserve for similar reasons, perhaps to lend credibility to their own interest in XRP.
Hoskinson described learning of ADA’s inclusion only after receiving numerous congratulatory messages, adding that any potential engagement with the White House before the announcement never transpired: “We never even knew about it, and nobody even talked to us about it,” he concluded.
As speculation mounts, industry insiders are now eagerly awaiting the first Crypto Summit at the White House on Friday. This event is expected to reveal more details about the composition and procurement strategy of the crypto reserve. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted that Bitcoin will receive primary focus:
“A Bitcoin strategic reserve is something the President’s interested in. He spoke about it all during the campaign trail, and I think you’re going to see it executed on Friday. So Bitcoin is one thing, and then the other currencies, the other crypto tokens, I think, will be treated differently—positively, but differently.”
At press time, XRP traded at $2.58
