Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff likes altcoins even less for a US strategic reserve

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to include leading altcoins in the proposed U.S. strategic cryptocurrency reserve has elicited sharp reactions both in favor of the move and opposing it. Among those responses, U.S. economist and crypto skeptic Peter Schiff said he opposes a Bitcoin reserve, but opposes a reserve with a mix of cryptocurrencies even more strongly.

“I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve. I don’t agree with it, but I get it,” Schiff wrote in an X post. “But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?”

Schiff awakens support for altcoins in the reserve

The crypto X community had answers for Schiff. One of the strongest defenders of Ripple’s XRP was Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson. 

“Because XRP is great technology, a global standard, survived for a decade through many harsh cycles, and has one of the strongest communities,” he responded. Cardano’s ADA was also tapped for the potential reserve.

Others touted XRP in the reserve for the same advantages it has on the market — low fees, liquidity and fast transactions. Panos Mekras, co-founder and CEO of Anodos Finance, also entered the fray on XRP’s side. “Because XRP is simply better in everything,” he said. Anodos Finance and its partner Safe Haven have integrated Safe Haven’s SHA token into XRP Ledger. Schiff countered:

“OK, but do we also need a reserve of ETH, SOL, or ADA? Do we need reserves of those? Why not include Fartcoin? Also, about an NVDA reserve? or APPL? Are those valuable companies?” 

Choice of altcoins for the reserve also questioned

There has been a welter of debate around that question. Many noted that the inclusion of altcoins in the reserve would make investors in those coins happy. 

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also expressed support for a Bitcoin-only reserve, but added, “If folks wanted more variety, you could do a market cap weighted index of crypto assets to keep it unbiased.”

President of venture capital firm Coinfund Christopher Perkins suggested:

“Once the Stablecoin Bill is passed (assuming regulators don’t get the reg cap wrong), the market cap of stablecoins is going to go up…like a lot. … If the ‘gas’ tokens of the blockchains that hold them (including $ETH and $SOL) aren’t strategic, then I don’t know what is.” 

Maybe stick with the gold reserve?

Schiff was annoyed by reactions to his post in the crypto press, where many writers interpreted it as support for a Bitcoin reserve. Schiff, the principal owner of SchiffGold, put a new spin on the proposed cryptocurrency reserve the following day when he posted:

“If the U.S. government actually did buy crypto, it would be bullish for gold. By subsidizing the crypto industry, the government would divert scar[c]e resources away from the productive sectors of the economy. That would result in larger trade and budget deficits and a lower dollar.”

In other words, any cryptocurrency reserve would be likely to slow economic growth and increase inflation, among other undesirable effects. Gold might serve a hedge against those trends.

That point of view was also challenged. “So, semiconductors, blockchain and artificial intelligence are not productive sectors of the economy? What are you smoking?” a commenter asked. 

Others challenged the assumption that gold was economically more beneficial than Bitcoin. Gold is also subject to volatility and is not easily convertible, and no one knows exactly how much of it there is.

Schiff reminded his audience that the cryptocurrency strategic reserve is not a done deal. Polymarket gives the odds of such a reserve being created in Trump’s first 100 days in office as 19%. Trump’s executive order created a working group.

In the words of Trump himself:

“My Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.” 

Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More