Strategic Reserves and Power Games: The Crypto Order in the Trump Era

Author: YBB Capital Researcher Zeke

Introduction

For President Trump, the world is a giant reality show of "The Apprentice." Within less than a month of taking office, many, from internal agency staff to foreign leaders, have already received termination letters from Trump stating "You're fired." How can Crypto, as a key guest, successfully advance in the remaining four years of the show? I think we might need to start by understanding this boss.

I. The Market Likes Surprises, But I Must Control the Pace

In Trump's autobiography "The Art of the Deal," "controlling the pace" and "creating surprises" form the core pillars of his negotiation philosophy. The intertwined use of these two strategies not only built his early business empire but also set the tone for his later political maneuvering.

• "Controlling the pace": The original quote in the book: "In a deal, you have to set the pace. If you let the other side dictate the timing, you've already lost half the battle."

• "Creating surprises": The original quote in the book: "The element of surprise is crucial. When they think you've given in, hit them with a new demand---it throws them off balance."

Looking back at classic negotiation cases from Trump's early business years, starting with the 1976 New York Hyatt Hotel project, Trump demonstrated absolute control over negotiation pace. When the city government demanded he cover the costs of subway station renovations, he created a sense of urgency by threatening to withdraw from negotiations—suddenly announcing a halt to construction three days before the municipal budget deadline, forcing the New York City Council to urgently pass a tax relief plan, ultimately increasing government subsidies from $40 million to $120 million. In the 1983 Trump Tower project, he took delay tactics to the extreme: at 90% completion, he suddenly sued the contractor for construction delays, successfully compressing the project cost by 23% by exploiting the contractor's urgency to settle the final payment.

The 1985 Atlantic City casino acquisition was the pinnacle of his "surprise strategy." After eight months of negotiations, when the seller, the Plaza Hotel Group, was ready for the signing ceremony, Trump threw out a new demand to assume $300 million in debt in the final 48 hours. This seemingly crazy move was actually a precise calculation: he knew the other side had already invested $2 million in legal fees, and bankruptcy of the project would lead to collective debt collection by banks. Ultimately, the seller was forced to accept the terms, and Trump completed the acquisition at a cost 40% below market price. This "sunk cost extortion" later became his signature negotiation style, as described in "The Art of the Deal": "The best time to strike is when your opponent thinks they have already won." This highly aggressive negotiation strategy is both a reflection of his "rules of the deal" and his controversial "destructive survival tactics."

Bringing the timeline back to recent events, on February 28, Zelensky and Trump held a globally broadcasted U.S.-Ukraine bilateral meeting at the White House, where Trump employed his usual strategies. First, on the eve of the meeting, he reached a four-point consensus with Russia, the most critical of which was both sides agreeing to lay the groundwork for future cooperation on shared geopolitical interests and economic and investment opportunities, which would emerge as the Russia-Ukraine conflict ends. The second was to demand a staggering $500 billion repayment, which during the meeting was altered to require Ukraine to inject 50% of future revenues from strategic resources such as rare earths, lithium, and graphite into a U.S.-led "reconstruction fund." The live broadcast of the entire meeting left global audiences stunned, and ultimately, Trump demanded Zelensky leave directly, leading to a breakdown in negotiations. The tariff stick he wielded also faced reciprocal backlash. President Trump clearly did not have a happy weekend.

From the above cases, we can summarize Trump's rules of negotiation more concretely: 1. Propose goals far above expectations, forcing opponents to accept suboptimal conditions; 2. Utilize all means to pressure opponents, maximizing benefits; 3. Be unpredictable, making it difficult for opponents to decipher; 4. Use media's influence to amplify events indefinitely.

From the responses of multiple countries, it seems that the way to counter this strategy is quite simple: refuse to negotiate, refuse to deal.

II. Strategic Reserves

On the Sunday following the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral meeting, Trump posted two tweets on his social media platform Truth Social, announcing that XRP, SOL, and ADA would be included in the "crypto strategic reserves," while ETH and BTC remained core assets. Following the announcement, the market experienced a bullish rebound; according to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin surged 9% to $93,969, Ethereum rose 13% to $2,516, Solana skyrocketed 24% to $174.64, Cardano soared 70% to $1.11, and XRP increased 34% to $2.93. However, the reaction within the crypto community to these two tweets was markedly different from past supportive attitudes, with the key trigger being the appearance of a suspicious user on Hyperliquid who, at a remarkably coincidental moment, used millions of dollars to go long on BTC & ETH at 50x leverage. According to social media analysis, this user chose to open positions on DEX to avoid centralized exchanges obtaining their KYC information. There are many related conspiracy theories, such as the timing of the Sunday announcement being intended to raise prices during institutional working days, using various channels to offload assets, treating the crypto space as a cash cow, etc.

Trump's surprise announcement of a basket of cryptocurrency reserves is still in line with his usual style, but the true purpose is hard to decipher; given his current appetite, these speculations may not be grand enough. Combining the "rules of the deal" mentioned above, I personally speculate some possible objectives:

1. Although he mentioned various cryptocurrency reserves, it is essentially to ensure that the U.S. accepts a suboptimal situation, namely, at least guaranteeing that BTC strategic reserves become a reality. This would attract more mainstream countries to buy BTC, while the U.S. retains dominance;

2. After being elected president, Trump possesses not only greater influence but also the ability to continuously build momentum around "strategic reserves," similar to past ETF expectations, thereby controlling market trends;

3. Trump needs to continually gain influence and power for his family, which has shifted from real estate to crypto, approaching crypto from every possible angle;

4. The "White House Select" clearly hides a more complex web of interests;

5. There is currently a clear lack of funding sources for purchasing crypto strategic reserves; Trump is using his usual media support to force seized cryptocurrencies to convert into strategic reserves, or is demanding the issuance of related bonds;

6. The basic concept of strategic reserves refers to resources such as materials, energy, and financial resources that a country plans to store during peacetime. The biggest question about cryptocurrencies becoming strategic reserves is their lack of intrinsic utility; even if BTC can be likened to gold. Therefore, launching strategic reserves for other altcoins still lacks support; Trump may already have plans to promote the large-scale adoption of these altcoins across various fields, with public chain tokens being viewed as "oil" on the chain and thus can also be seen as "material reserves."

III. Destructive Survival

Trump's decision-making style and personality traits are deeply influenced by his father, Fred Trump. His father defined interpersonal relationships as a "zero-sum game" through high-pressure education, and this upbringing shaped Trump's competitive mentality of "demonizing" opponents. Whether in his business and diplomatic confrontations or the events following his 2020 election loss, where he incited supporters to storm Capitol Hill, it clearly highlights his survival law centered on attack, destruction, and suppression.

Retail investors in the crypto space often chant "Long live the crypto president" due to their alliances of interest, but it is important to be cautious that we may not be on the same front as the crypto president. The concepts of America First and Family First will still permeate his crypto world. While it remains unclear how Trump will respond to non-U.S. and non-family projects, it is evident that he is ensuring "America First" and "Family First" in the on-chain world using methods similar to a tariff war.

1. U.S. projects are prioritized through ETFs and strategic reserves;

2. U.S. projects may enjoy zero capital gains tax in the future, while projects he dislikes may face increased taxes;

3. Family projects enjoy "privileges," such as regulatory sandboxes and targeted financial support.

These three points are currently obvious trends. I believe Trump may also find ways to suppress the output of non-U.S. mining pools, ensuring that every remaining BTC is stamped with "Made in USA" as much as possible. By integrating regulatory interfaces at the protocol level, only projects that meet U.S. standards will thrive on-chain. There are many more developments that can unfold in the next four years; the Americanization of crypto has inevitably entered a breaking stage. In this grand scheme, we either choose alliances or choose to "refuse to deal."

IV. The Shadow of DOGE

Trump's friend Elon Musk propelled Dogecoin, originally created to satirize Bitcoin, to a dual "moon" in market capitalization and physical significance during the 2021 cryptocurrency bull market. This joke coin, which originated from an internet meme, was initially developed by engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer in 2013 to mock the rampant speculation in the cryptocurrency market at the time. Its code was completed in just three hours, employing an unlimited issuance mechanism, and even referred to mining as "digging holes," completely subverting the narrative of Bitcoin's scarcity.

However, Musk breathed new life into this old meme through social media. Since 2019, he has claimed the title of "Father of Dogecoin," igniting market enthusiasm with slogans like "to the moon" and "the people's currency," and even named SpaceX's lunar satellite launch mission in 2025 as DOGE-1, making it the first space project fully paid for with Dogecoin. This frenzy propelled Dogecoin to soar over 7000% in 2021, with its market capitalization briefly surpassing $85 billion, outpacing traditional giants like General Motors, completing a remarkable transformation from a satirical tool to one of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market value.

The greatest tragedy in the world is becoming the person you hate the most. The crypto world is replaying the fate trajectory of its adversaries. Once a "weapon against centralized power," Bitcoin has now become a new vehicle for American hegemony—funds flow in accordance with the baton of Trump's tweets, from BTC to Trump, Melania, and these so-called altcoin strategic reserves. Wherever the baton points is the future of crypto, and the vitality of crypto has thus been lost. When the rebel becomes part of the establishment, crypto ultimately fails to escape the narrative loop of "the dragon-slaying youth becoming the evil dragon."

V. Double-Edged Sword

From a perspective devoid of self-interest, Trump is indeed a legend in American political and business history, and I believe BTC will accompany him to the moon. But what innovation can arise from crypto under the interference of power and high regulation? I used to be angry at altcoins for their lack of ambition, but now I also pity their misfortune. The battle for attention and power is rampant on-chain, just as Vitalik responded to Ethereum OGs on X:

When I hear people from crypto Twitter and venture capital firms proclaiming "the PvP with over 99% user loss rate, KOL gambler casinos are the most fitting products in the crypto field and market," and claim "desiring better things is elitism from a high ground," do I feel pleased?

And this situation may only intensify in the future; PvP is just a microcosm. In the next four years, the so-called best projects may only appear in President Trump's tweets. The crypto that Trump advocates has always been a double-edged sword; crypto may ultimately split into various layers, such as traditional and American styles, with past public chain wars occurring on a larger scale. Under Trump's strong strategies and immense influence, this war may be fought fiercely, but the rebirth of crypto will inevitably go through this tribulation.