Solana Co-Founder Says A Federally Controlled Crypto Reserve Will Harm Decentralization Ethos, Proposes States Control Their Own Reserves

Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of the Solana SOL/USD ecosystem, argued against a federal government-controlled cryptocurrency reserve Wednesday, citing a threat to decentralization.

What Happened: In an X post, Yakovenko outlined his order of preference for a potential cryptocurrency reserve.

“No reserve, because if you want decentralization to fail, you'd put the government in charge of it,” he stated as his first and the most ideal choice.

However, if reserves must be set up, Yakovenko said they should be managed by states as a “hedge” against the Federal Reserve making a mistake.

In the case of a federally administered reserve, Yakovenko proposed basing it on “objectively measurable requirements.”

“I don't care what they are, they can even be constructed such that only Bitcoin satisfies them right now, they just must be objectively measurable and rationally justified,” he explained his point.

My reserve order of preference

1. No reserve, because if you want decentralization to fail you'd put the government in charge of it.

2. Or states run their own reserve as a hedge against the fed making a mistake

3. Or if there has to be a reserve, it's based on objectively… https://t.co/LfYXCIeRnG
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) March 6, 2025

When questioned if this was an indirect confirmation that no one from Solana pitched SOL for inclusion in the recently announced U.S. cryptocurrency reserve, Yakovenko stated, “No one asked me, and I didn’t pitch it.”

Why It Matters: Yakovenko’s comments come in the wake of the surprise announcement of a strategic reserve comprising of top coins such as Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, XRP XRP/USD, Cardano ADA/USD, and SOL.

The idea of including coins other than Bitcoin has sparked criticism from certain quarters, including some of President Donald Trump’s supporters. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also stated that having just Bitcoin in the reserve would be the “best option.”

That said, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted that Bitcoin might be granted a special status in the proposed reserve, while other tokens would be treated differently but positively.

All eyes will be on Friday’s White House crypto summit to get a more comprehensive understanding of the reserve.

Price Action: At the time of writing, SOL was exchanging hands at $6.23, up 13.61% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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