The much-anticipated White House Crypto Summit on Friday ended with a whimper rather than a bang for cryptocurrency traders, sending altcoins like XRP, Cardano’s ADA, and Solana’s SOL into steeper declines than market leader bitcoin (BTC).
Investors had pinned high hopes on President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance, expecting bold announcements about a U.S. strategic crypto reserve that would prominently feature major altcoins.
Instead, the summit delivered a more subdued outcome: a framework for stablecoin legislation before August and assurances of a lighter regulatory touch—moves that failed to ignite the market as anticipated.
Trump said it was “foolish” that the federal government had already sold so much of its seized bitcoin, adding that the country will a colloquial rule of “never sell your bitcoin.
XRP dropped 3.5% in the past 24 hours to nearly $2.4, down from a high of $2.98 earlier in the week — marking a decline of nearly 20% from its Sunday peak following Trump’s initial reserve announcement. Cardano’s ADA fell over 5% while Solana’s SOL shed 4% to hover around $138 as of Asian afternoon hours Saturday.
Bitcoin, by contrast, held up better, trading at $86,000—down 2.5% in the past 24 hours but showing relative resilience compared to the altcoin bloodbath.
The summit, chaired by Trump’s AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks, had been billed as a landmark event following the president’s earlier pledge to establish a U.S. crypto strategic reserve including BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA.
Trump’s Sunday Truth Social posts had sparked a massive rally, with majors surging as much as 60% as traders bet on a transformative policy shift. However, Sacks’ clarification on Friday that Trump’s mention of five cryptocurrencies was merely illustrative — not a firm commitment — doused hopes of longer rallies.
Meanwhile, the embrace of bitcoin could eventually see other countries act in lockstep, potentially acting as bullish catalysts in the coming months.
“The U.S.’ prioritisation of Bitcoin as a reserve asset not only legitimises its status as “digital gold’ but also sets a precedent that could accelerate regulatory frameworks and drive institutional adoption worldwide,” Vincent Chok, CEO of First Digital, told CoinDesk in an email. “This move will inevitably prompt a diverse range of responses from global regulators.’
“For those aligned with U.S. policy, it could accelerate the establishment of their own national strategic stockpiles. Such federal confidence could inspire institutions to move on-chain, increasing participation, injecting liquidity into the decentralised finance market, and broadening interest beyond Bitcoin to other digital assets like stablecoins,” Chok added.
