- White House summit to assess ADA, XRP, SOL inclusion in federal reserve; debates focus on decentralized governance frameworks.
- Solana’s Yakovenko opposes centralized custodianship, proposes state-level reserves or algorithmic criteria prioritizing Bitcoin’s auditability.
The White House will convene its inaugural Crypto Policy Summit on March 7, 2025, to assess the inclusion of altcoins such as Cardano (ADA), XRP, and Solana (SOL) in a proposed U.S. Strategic Digital Asset Reserve.
The discussions aim to define custodial protocols, liquidity provisioning, and compliance frameworks for federally held cryptocurrencies, extending beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Solana Co-Founder’s Decentralization-First Critique
Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana co-founder, outlined three scenarios for the reserve’s structure, emphasizing decentralized governance. First, he rejected federal custodianship of decentralized protocols, labeling it incompatible with on-chain autonomy.
My reserve order of preference
1. No reserve, because if you want decentralization to fail you’d put the government in charge of it.
2. Or states run their own reserve as a hedge against the fed making a mistake
3. Or if there has to be a reserve, it’s based on objectively… https://t.co/LfYXCIeRnG
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) March 6, 2025
Second, he proposed state-level reserves utilizing tokenized treasury models to hedge against central bank policies. Third, Yakovenko advocated algorithmic criteria—such as proof-of-stake (PoS) security thresholds or liquidity depth—to qualify assets, even if only BTC meets initial benchmarks.
Yakovenko denied lobbying for SOL’s inclusion, stating no entity approached him to advocate for the network. He dismissed the concept of a “Solana delegate” as antithetical to decentralized validator networks, drawing parallels to Bitcoin’s lack of centralized representation.
Controversy Over Multi-Asset Reserve Composition
Plans to expand the reserve to altcoins face pushback from proponents of protocol-level minimalism. Critics argue that incorporating PoS assets like SOL or ADA risks conflating decentralized finance (DeFi) with centralized policy agendas, potentially distorting validator incentives. Skeptics allege project founders seek to inflate market caps via state-backed liquidity pools, undermining decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Policy Implications and On-Chain Governance
The summit coincides with debates over MiCA-like frameworks in the U.S., focusing on anti-money laundering (AML) rules for multi-chain reserves. Proponents of a BTC-centric reserve cite its proof-of-work (PoW) auditability and institutional custody infrastructure. Conversely, altcoin advocates highlight cross-chain interoperability and smart contract utility as strategic advantages.
Yakovenko reiterated that Solana’s validator network could adapt to federal reserve requirements but warned against conflating decentralized protocols with centralized monetary tools. ETHNews analysts note that BTC and ETH derivatives liquidity could stabilize a multi-asset reserve, while altcoins may introduce volatility.
As the summit approaches, stakeholders await clarity on asset selection criteria, custodial chain-of-control, and the role of decentralized oracles in reserve auditing.
