Crypto
- Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko criticised the creation of a potential Strategic Reserve, questioning the impact on decentralisation.
- Yakovenko suggested that Reserves be held by States and assets have clear criteria for inclusion.
- Journalist Laura Shin claimed that XRP may have lobbied for Solana’s inclusion in the stockpile.
The prospect of a United States digital asset Reserve has evolved from a dream to reality over the past few weeks.
US President Donald Trump recently posted to Truth.social his plans to include altcoins such as XRP, Cardano and Solana in a digital asset stockpile.
Despite temporarily buoying the market, not everyone was happy about the announcement.
Even Solana’s co-founder – who may stand to benefit in some way from SOL’s inclusion – was none too pleased with the proposal.
Related: Here’s Who Will Be Attending Trump’s First White House Crypto Summit
Solana Founder Lays Down Three-Step Preferences For Ensuring Reserve Maintains Blockchain Ideals
Trump’s decision to potentially include non-Bitcoin assets in a Strategic Reserve was met with some pretty strong criticism within the community.
Taking to Twitter/X, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko questioned having a Government-owned Strategic Reserve in general. His rationale was simple – how can you maintain decentralisation when a large portion of supply is controlled by a single, powerful entity?
No reserve, because if you want decentralization to fail you’d put the government in charge of it.
Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder Solana
However, if there must be a digital asset stockpile, the Solana co-founder had preferences for how that would look.
Keeping with the theme of decentralisation, Yakovenko suggested that Reserves be held by States, rather than the Feds, as a hedge against poor fiscal or social policies.
Finally, and perhaps the most likely scenario to unfold, the Solana figurehead suggested there be actionable criteria for inclusion in the stockpile that projects had to meet, rather than the ambiguous selection process seemingly taking place.
Or if there has to be a reserve, it’s based on objectively measurable requirements. I don’t care what they are, they can even be constructed such that only bitcoin satisfies them right now, they just must be objectively measurable and rationally justified. If there is a target to beat, the solana ecosystem will get it done.
Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder Solana
XRP May Have Lobbied for Solana’s Reserve Inclusion, Journalist Says
Interestingly, Anatoly’s public comments were spurred by a Tweet from journalist Laura Shin. She claimed that XRP – whose powerbrokers have purportedly been in communication with President Trump – lobbied for Solana’s inclusion in the stockpile to make XRP’s seem ‘more legitimate’.
Ripple pitched SOL as part of a national reserve in order to make the inclusion of XRP in a reserve seem more legitimate, according to sources familiar with the conversations. @vronirwin reportshttps://t.co/S2vHKjGC16
— Laura Shin (@laurashin) March 5, 2025
Commenting on the matter, Anatoly Yakovenko confirmed that nobody from Solana’s arm was involved in Solana’s potential Reserve inclusion, giving credence to the idea Trump’s decision was influenced elsewhere.
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.
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) March 6, 2025
