Australia’s government confirms no plans to establish a strategic crypto reserve

The Australian government has revealed that it is not considering a strategic crypto reserve in the aftermath of President Donald Trump announcing the establishment of a crypto reserve in the U.S. The nation refused to follow Trump’s lead for a crypto reserve even after the President plans to stockpile five different digital assets.

Trump announced on March 2 that the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets was directed to include XRP, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin, and Ethereum in the crypto strategic reserve.

Australian government declines to establish a strategic crypto reserve

Australia’s government has revealed that it will not establish a cryptocurrency reserve, despite Donald Trump initiating efforts for the latter just days earlier. The President announced yesterday that the United States was moving ahead with plans to establish a strategic crypto reserve in BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and ADA.

A spokesperson for the Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, stated that the country’s government is focused on regulating virtual currencies. The spokesperson also acknowledged that the Australian government had no plans to start investing public money in crypto in the near term.

“The Albanese government has consulted on our proposed framework to build a fit-for-purpose digital asset regulatory regime, and we continue to work closely with industry. The Albanese government knows that blockchain and digital assets present big opportunities for our economy, our financial sector and innovation.

-Australian Government Spokesperson.

The President believes that a U.S. crypto reserve “will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden administration.” He also added that he will make sure the United States is the “Crypto Capital of the World.”

Trump’s announcement that a strategic crypto reserve would include other cryptocurrencies sent crypto prices soaring. ADA surged by almost 70% on the day, SOL rose by almost 20%, XRP was up 28%, and ETH and BTC jumped 11% and 8%, respectively.

At the time of publication, the spike has now died down with most cryptocurrencies tumbling today, with BTC dropping over 9% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum is also down by over 10% during the same period, XRP plummeted by 9.67%, while Solana and ADA are both down by almost 15%.

Australian executives display skepticism towards a strategic crypto reserve

Tom Matthews, head of corporate affairs at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, acknowledged that while the idea for a reserve was popular, it can also be “fraught with complexity.” He also believes that there is a potential for concentration risk with some tokens if the idea for a reserve is not managed properly.

Mathews also argued that crypto price volatility is a major problem if one of the main goals of a nation’s strategic reserve is to hedge against crises. He also highlighted that he was eager to see where the political traction will come from concerning the potential reserve. The exchange’s executive speculated a more likely scenario will be the emergence of a long-only sovereign wealth fund that holds digital assets.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong disclosed that the best option for the crypto reserve would be to make it Bitcoin only. 

Samira Tollo, CTO of Australian crypto exchange Elbaite, believes that Trump’s motives for including ADA are questionable because it represents just 1% of market share. She posted that the President was creating mass “Hopium” and “it’s clear from this announcement that his incentives lie elsewhere.”

Joe Lonsdale, the founder of AI-based data analytics firm Palantir referred to the scheme as a grift and protested that his tax dollars shouldn’t be used for purchasing crypto. He said that taxation was theft and should be kept to a minimum. Lonsdale acknowledged that “it’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes.”

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center CEO Brendan Thomas highlighted in December that the Anti-Money Laundering regulator was shifting its focus to the virtual asset industry in 2025. During the same period, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission also released a consultation paper on proposed guidance for digital currencies. The consultation paper placed many virtual assets under the category of financial products and required firms dealing in crypto to be licensed.

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