Canadian Bitcoin Developer Critiques Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve

Peter Todd, a notable Canadian Bitcoin developer, has strongly criticized the concept of a strategic cryptocurrency reserve that includes digital assets like XRP and Solana (SOL).

Todd, previously on HBO’s shortlist for Satoshi Nakamoto, described such a reserve as “an obvious scam” that favors centralized entities holding these tokens.

> “The Bitcoin part of it is just buying digital gold. Not much different than a strategic gold reserve.”
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> “The Ripple, Solana, etc. part of it is an obvious scam designed to enrich the centralized parties controlling those coins.”
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> — Peter Todd (@peterktodd) March 4, 2025

He compared holding only Bitcoin in a reserve to a traditional gold reserve, stressing its legitimacy. Todd has been a long-time opponent of XRP, citing centralization issues since he studied Ripple’s environment for a banking consortium in 2015. In 2018, he commented that if Ripple admitted XRP was centralized, it would face far less criticism.

U.S. Plans for Digital Asset Stockpile

Recently, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve consisting of five major assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, and Cardano. This initiative aligns with an executive order that mandated an assessment of a national digital asset reserve, with Trump asserting the aim to make the U.S. the “Crypto Capital of the World.”

The order includes directives for setting standards on acquiring digital currencies, potentially involving illicit funds.

This announcement coincides with Trump’s upcoming White House Crypto Summit, scheduled for Friday, organized by Hines and chaired by David Sacks, featuring numerous influential speakers from the crypto sector.

Concerns over this strategy have been voiced even among crypto advocates, given that some included assets are controlled by central entities. Bitwise CEO Hunter Holsley and CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill, have expressed skepticism about including cryptocurrencies likened to technology investments rather than decentralized currencies.

Butterfill remarked that this move may reflect a patriotic approach to crypto technology rather than the intrinsic value of Bitcoin.