According to Reuters, on Friday local time, U.S. President Trump brought together the elites of the cryptocurrency industry at the White House to host the first cryptocurrency summit of its kind, focusing on his proposed governmentPlan to build a digital asset reserve.
Trump said on social media that he had invited many industry figures to attend the meeting, including Zach Witkoff, co-founder of Trump’s own cryptocurrency project WorldLibertyFinancial. In addition to senior government officials and members of Congress, guests attending the meeting in the White House State Dining Room also included Michael Saylor, CEO of Bitcoin investment company MicroStrategy, Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, investors Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, and entrepreneur David Bailey.
A focus of the summit was Trump's plan to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies that includes Bitcoin. He formalized the plan with an executive order on Thursday, sayingThe reserve will also hoard other digital assets. The executive order directs the secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to develop a “budget-neutral strategy” to reserve additional Bitcoin without “additional cost” to taxpayers.
"We don't want taxpayers to bear any cost."Trump said at the summit. White House Cryptocurrency Commissioner David Sacks posted on social media X that the source of the reserve will be Bitcoin held by the federal government,The Bitcoins were confiscated through criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.
Technology company Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also attended the summit and said he welcomed Trump's recognition that the world of cryptocurrency is not limited to Bitcoin. Related to RippleRippleIt is one of four other cryptocurrencies that Trump has suggested may be added to the cryptocurrency reserve.