Introduction

For President Trump, the world is a giant reality show akin to "The Apprentice." Within a month of taking office, numerous individuals, from internal agency staff to foreign leaders, have already received a "You're fired" letter from Trump. In the remaining four years of this show, how can Crypto, as a key guest, successfully advance? Perhaps we should start by understanding this boss.

I. The Market Loves 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 interplay of these two strategies has not only built his early business empire but also set the tone for his later political games.

"Controlling the Pace": Original quote from 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": Original quote from 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."

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

Looking back at Trump's classic negotiation cases from his early business days, starting with the 1976 Grand Hyatt Hotel project in New York, Trump demonstrated absolute control over the negotiation pace. When the city government demanded that he cover the subway station renovation costs, he threatened to withdraw from the negotiations to create a sense of urgency—announcing a halt in construction just three days before the municipal budget deadline, forcing the New York City Council to urgently pass a tax relief plan. Ultimately, he increased government subsidies from $40 million to $120 million. In the 1983 Trump Tower project, he took the delay tactic to the extreme: at 90% completion, he suddenly sued the contractor for construction delays, leveraging the contractor's eagerness to settle the final payment, and successfully reduced the construction cost by 23%.

The 1985 Atlantic City casino acquisition was the pinnacle of his "surprise strategy." After eight months of negotiations, when the seller, the Pratt Hotel Group, had prepared 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 party had already invested $2 million in legal fees, and the project's bankruptcy would lead to collective debt collection by banks. Ultimately, the seller was forced to accept the terms, and Trump completed the acquisition at 40% below market price. This "sunk cost extortion" later became his signature negotiation style, as described in "The Art of the Deal": "When the opponent thinks they have the upper hand, it's the best time to strike the fatal blow." This highly oppressive negotiation strategy, which he advocates as the "rules of the deal," is also the controversial "survival of the fittest" he practices.

Fast forward to February 28th, during the globally live-streamed U.S.-Ukraine bilateral talks between Zelensky and Trump, Trump still unfolded his usual strategy. First, he struck a lightning thaw with Russia the night before the talks, reaching a four-point consensus, the most critical of which was the agreement to lay the groundwork for future cooperation on shared geopolitical interests and economic and investment opportunities, which would emerge with the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Second, he issued a sky-high bill demanding $5 trillion in repayment, which was changed during the talks to Ukraine injecting 50% of the future earnings from strategic resources like rare earths, lithium, and graphite into a U.S.-led "reconstruction fund." The entire live broadcast left the global audience stunned, and Trump ultimately asked Zelensky to leave directly, causing the talks to collapse. The tariff stick waved externally also faced an equal counterattack. President Trump apparently did not have a good weekend.

From the above cases, we can summarize Trump's deal-making rules more specifically: 1) Set goals far higher than expected to force the opponent to accept suboptimal conditions; 2) Use every means to pressure the opponent to maximize benefits; 3) Be unpredictable to keep the opponent guessing; 4) Leverage the media's power to amplify events infinitely.

From the counteractions of several countries, it seems that countering this strategy is quite simple: just refuse to trade and refuse to negotiate.

II. Strategic Reserves

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

The day after the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral talks, on Sunday, Trump posted two tweets on his social media platform Truth Social, announcing that XRP, SOL, and ADA would be included in the "crypto strategic reserve," with ETH and BTC remaining core. After the announcement, the market saw a bullish return. According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin surged by 9% to $93,969, Ethereum by 13% to $2,516, Solana by 24% to $174.64, Cardano by 70% to $1.11, and XRP by 34% to $2.93. The reaction within the crypto community to these "firefighting" tweets was quite different from the usual supportive attitude. The most critical trigger was a suspected front-runner on Hyperliquid who, at an extremely coincidental time, used millions of dollars to go long on BTC & ETH with 50x leverage. According to social media analysis, the user chose to open positions on a DEX to avoid KYC information being obtained by centralized exchanges. There are many related conspiracy theories, such as the Sunday release being aimed at institutional workdays to pump and dump, using various channels to cash out and treat the crypto space as an ATM.

Trump's surprise announcement of a basket of crypto reserves still fits his consistent style, but the real purpose is hard to fathom. Given his current appetite, these guesses might still be far from enough. Combining the above "deal-making rules," I personally speculate on some possible purposes:

1. Although he mentioned many crypto reserves, the actual goal might just be to make the U.S. accept a suboptimal situation, i.e., to ensure that at least the BTC strategic reserve becomes a reality. This would attract more mainstream countries to buy BTC, with the U.S. still holding the dominant power.

2. After being elected president, Trump has more than just greater influence; he can also continuously create momentum for the "strategic reserve" expectation, just like the ETF expectation in the past, thereby controlling the market trend.

3. Trump needs to continuously fight for influence and power for his family's transition from real estate to crypto, and he is trying to enter the crypto space from every possible angle.

4. Behind the "White House selection" clearly lies a more complex web of interests.

5. There is currently a clear lack of funding sources for buying crypto strategic reserves. Trump is using his usual public opinion support to force the confiscated crypto to be turned into strategic reserves or to demand the issuance of related bonds.

6. The basic concept of strategic reserves is that countries plan to store resources such as materials, energy, and finances during peacetime. The biggest question about crypto becoming a strategic reserve is the lack of intrinsic use. Even if BTC can be compared to gold, the lack of support for other altcoin strategic reserves remains. Trump might already have plans to promote large-scale adoption of the above-mentioned chains in various fields. As the "oil" for accessing the chain, chain tokens can naturally be regarded as "material reserves."

III. Destructive Survival

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

Trump's decision-making style and personality traits are deeply influenced by his father, Fred Trump. His father's high-pressure education defined interpersonal relationships as a "zero-sum game," and this upbringing shaped Trump's competitive mindset of "enemy-izing" opponents. Whether in commercial or diplomatic confrontations, or in the 2020 election loss that incited supporters to storm the Capitol, his core survival rules of attack, destruction, and suppression are clearly highlighted.

Crypto retail investors, due to their interest alliances, often shout "Long live the Crypto President," but we need to be cautious that we may not be on the same side as the Crypto President. The concepts of "America first" and "family first" will still be implemented in his crypto world. Although it is unclear what countermeasures Trump will take against non-American, non-family projects, he is clearly using a similar tariff war approach to ensure "America first" and "family first" in the chain world.

1. American projects will be prioritized through ETFs and strategic reserves.

2. American projects may enjoy zero capital gains tax in the future, while projects he dislikes may face higher taxes.

3. "Privileges" for family projects, such as regulatory sandboxes and targeted support.

These three points are the obvious trends at present. In my opinion, Trump may also find ways to suppress the output of non-American mining pools, thereby ensuring that every BTC is as "Made in USA" as possible. Regulatory interfaces will be integrated at the protocol layer, and only projects that meet American standards will prosper on-chain

Introduction

For President Trump, the world is a giant reality show akin to "The Apprentice." Within a month of taking office, numerous individuals, from internal agency staff to foreign leaders, have already received a "You're fired" letter from Trump. In the remaining four years of this show, how can Crypto, as a key guest, successfully advance? Perhaps we should start by understanding this boss.

I. The Market Loves 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 interplay of these two strategies has not only built his early business empire but also set the tone for his later political games.

"Controlling the Pace": Original quote from 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": Original quote from 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."

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

Looking back at Trump's classic negotiation cases from his early business days, starting with the 1976 Grand Hyatt Hotel project in New York, Trump demonstrated absolute control over the negotiation pace. When the city government demanded that he cover the subway station renovation costs, he threatened to withdraw from the negotiations to create a sense of urgency—announcing a halt in construction just three days before the municipal budget deadline, forcing the New York City Council to urgently pass a tax relief plan. Ultimately, he increased government subsidies from $40 million to $120 million. In the 1983 Trump Tower project, he took the delay tactic to the extreme: at 90% completion, he suddenly sued the contractor for construction delays, leveraging the contractor's eagerness to settle the final payment, and successfully reduced the construction cost by 23%.

The 1985 Atlantic City casino acquisition was the pinnacle of his "surprise strategy." After eight months of negotiations, when the seller, the Pratt Hotel Group, had prepared 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 party had already invested $2 million in legal fees, and the project's bankruptcy would lead to collective debt collection by banks. Ultimately, the seller was forced to accept the terms, and Trump completed the acquisition at 40% below market price. This "sunk cost extortion" later became his signature negotiation style, as described in "The Art of the Deal": "When the opponent thinks they have the upper hand, it's the best time to strike the fatal blow." This highly oppressive negotiation strategy, which he advocates as the "rules of the deal," is also the controversial "survival of the fittest" he practices.

Fast forward to February 28th, during the globally live-streamed U.S.-Ukraine bilateral talks between Zelensky and Trump, Trump still unfolded his usual strategy. First, he struck a lightning thaw with Russia the night before the talks, reaching a four-point consensus, the most critical of which was the agreement to lay the groundwork for future cooperation on shared geopolitical interests and economic and investment opportunities, which would emerge with the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Second, he issued a sky-high bill demanding $5 trillion in repayment, which was changed during the talks to Ukraine injecting 50% of the future earnings from strategic resources like rare earths, lithium, and graphite into a U.S.-led "reconstruction fund." The entire live broadcast left the global audience stunned, and Trump ultimately asked Zelensky to leave directly, causing the talks to collapse. The tariff stick waved externally also faced an equal counterattack. President Trump apparently did not have a good weekend.

From the above cases, we can summarize Trump's deal-making rules more specifically: 1) Set goals far higher than expected to force the opponent to accept suboptimal conditions; 2) Use every means to pressure the opponent to maximize benefits; 3) Be unpredictable to keep the opponent guessing; 4) Leverage the media's power to amplify events infinitely.

From the counteractions of several countries, it seems that countering this strategy is quite simple: just refuse to trade and refuse to negotiate.

II. Strategic Reserves

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

The day after the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral talks, on Sunday, Trump posted two tweets on his social media platform Truth Social, announcing that XRP, SOL, and ADA would be included in the "crypto strategic reserve," with ETH and BTC remaining core. After the announcement, the market saw a bullish return. According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin surged by 9% to $93,969, Ethereum by 13% to $2,516, Solana by 24% to $174.64, Cardano by 70% to $1.11, and XRP by 34% to $2.93. The reaction within the crypto community to these "firefighting" tweets was quite different from the usual supportive attitude. The most critical trigger was a suspected front-runner on Hyperliquid who, at an extremely coincidental time, used millions of dollars to go long on BTC & ETH with 50x leverage. According to social media analysis, the user chose to open positions on a DEX to avoid KYC information being obtained by centralized exchanges. There are many related conspiracy theories, such as the Sunday release being aimed at institutional workdays to pump and dump, using various channels to cash out and treat the crypto space as an ATM.

Trump's surprise announcement of a basket of crypto reserves still fits his consistent style, but the real purpose is hard to fathom. Given his current appetite, these guesses might still be far from enough. Combining the above "deal-making rules," I personally speculate on some possible purposes:

1. Although he mentioned many crypto reserves, the actual goal might just be to make the U.S. accept a suboptimal situation, i.e., to ensure that at least the BTC strategic reserve becomes a reality. This would attract more mainstream countries to buy BTC, with the U.S. still holding the dominant power.

2. After being elected president, Trump has more than just greater influence; he can also continuously create momentum for the "strategic reserve" expectation, just like the ETF expectation in the past, thereby controlling the market trend.

3. Trump needs to continuously fight for influence and power for his family's transition from real estate to crypto, and he is trying to enter the crypto space from every possible angle.

4. Behind the "White House selection" clearly lies a more complex web of interests.

5. There is currently a clear lack of funding sources for buying crypto strategic reserves. Trump is using his usual public opinion support to force the confiscated crypto to be turned into strategic reserves or to demand the issuance of related bonds.

6. The basic concept of strategic reserves is that countries plan to store resources such as materials, energy, and finances during peacetime. The biggest question about crypto becoming a strategic reserve is the lack of intrinsic use. Even if BTC can be compared to gold, the lack of support for other altcoin strategic reserves remains. Trump might already have plans to promote large-scale adoption of the above-mentioned chains in various fields. As the "oil" for accessing the chain, chain tokens can naturally be regarded as "material reserves."

III. Destructive Survival

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

Trump's decision-making style and personality traits are deeply influenced by his father, Fred Trump. His father's high-pressure education defined interpersonal relationships as a "zero-sum game," and this upbringing shaped Trump's competitive mindset of "enemy-izing" opponents. Whether in commercial or diplomatic confrontations, or in the 2020 election loss that incited supporters to storm the Capitol, his core survival rules of attack, destruction, and suppression are clearly highlighted.

Crypto retail investors, due to their interest alliances, often shout "Long live the Crypto President," but we need to be cautious that we may not be on the same side as the Crypto President. The concepts of "America first" and "family first" will still be implemented in his crypto world. Although it is unclear what countermeasures Trump will take against non-American, non-family projects, he is clearly using a similar tariff war approach to ensure "America first" and "family first" in the chain world.

1. American projects will be prioritized through ETFs and strategic reserves.

2. American projects may enjoy zero capital gains tax in the future, while projects he dislikes may face higher taxes.

3. "Privileges" for family projects, such as regulatory sandboxes and targeted support.

These three points are the obvious trends at present. In my opinion, Trump may also find ways to suppress the output of non-American mining pools, thereby ensuring that every BTC is as "Made in USA" as possible. Regulatory interfaces will be integrated at the protocol layer, and only projects that meet American standards will prosper on-chain