Bitcoin Spikes As Trump Discusses Strategic Reserve Ahead Of White House Crypto Summit

 Update (1045ET): On the heels of the announcement of a Cyrpto Summit at The White House this week, President Trump took to Truth Social to explain some of the details, specifically mentioning a Strategic Reserve.

A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.

I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.

We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

All three of the 'altcoin's have shotr up in price since the post:

And, despite the non-mention of Bitcoin, the largest cryptro currency is spking abovbe $88k...

Many suggest the term 'includes' the altcoins does not mean 'excludes' bitcoin or ethereum. 

We shall see.

As Zoltan Vardai detailed earlier via CoinTelegraph.com, US President Donald Trump will host the first White House Crypto Summit on March 7, bringing together industry leaders to discuss regulatory policies, stablecoin oversight, and the potential role of Bitcoin in the US financial system.

The attendees will include “prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry,” along with members of the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets, according to an announcement shared by the White House “AI and crypto czar,” David Sacks, in a March 1 X post.

The summit will be chaired by Sacks and administered by Bo Hines, the executive director of the Working Group.

Source: David Sacks

Sacks was appointed White House Crypto and AI and Czar on Dec. 6, 2024, to “work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.,” Trump wrote in the announcement. 

Part of Sacks’ role will be to “safeguard” online speech and “steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship,” Trump added.

Source: Donald Trump

Trump has previously signaled that he intends to make crypto policy a national priority and make the US a global hub for blockchain innovation. The upcoming summit may set the tone for crypto regulations over the next four years.

Sacks only has two years to push through pro-crypto policies before the 2026 midterm elections in the US, Joe Doll, the general counsel for NFT marketplace Magic Eden, told Cointelegraph in an interview.

According to Doll, the threat of a gridlocked government could stifle regulations, and the current administration must push through pro-crypto policies while still in control of both chambers of Congress.

Stablecoin, Bitcoin reserve regulation remain focus

While there are no additional details about the summit’s agenda, stablecoin regulation and legislation related to a potential strategic Bitcoin reserve have been at the forefront of regulatory discussions in the US.

The White House announcement came days after Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Circle, the company behind the world’s second-largest stablecoin, said that stablecoin issuers worldwide should be required to register with US authorities.

Citing consumer protection, Allaire argued that US dollar-based stablecoin issuers should not get a “free pass,” enabling them to “ignore the US law and go do whatever the hell you want wherever and sell into the United States.” Allaire told Bloomberg:

“Whether you are an offshore company or based in Hong Kong, if you want to offer your US dollar stablecoin in the US, you should need to register in the US just like we have to go register everywhere else.”

The upcoming summit may shed more light on upcoming stablecoin legislation, considering Sacks previously stated that stablecoins could “extend the dollar's dominance internationally.”

Interest in a US-based strategic Bitcoin reserve is also on the rise. So far, at least 24 states have introduced legislation related to a potential Bitcoin reserve, Bitcoinlaws data shows.

US states with Bitcoin reserve bill propositions. Source: Bitcoinlaws

However, the state-level Bitcoin reserve initiatives may not represent a pivotal moment for Bitcoin; they are only a “symbolic move” unless a significant purchase is announced, according to Iliya Kalchev, dispatch analyst at Nexo.

“Unless the hearing unveils a near-term purchase plan or a major policy shift, the market’s response will likely be mild, as Texas’ pro-crypto stance is already well known,” Kalchev told Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin has averaged over 1,077% returns over the past five years, showing the lucrative potential of a long-term holding strategy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/trump-host-first-white-house-crypto-summit-march-7

Johnson says someone besides Zelensky ‘needs to lead’ Ukraine

 Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he believes someone besides Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should lead Ukraine.

Johnson joined CBS News’ “Meet the Press” just days after President Trump and Zelensky held an explosive meeting and the mineral deal intended to fuel peace talks.

“Well, something has to change,” Johnson said. “Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that.”

Zelensky and Trump met on Friday in what was expected to be a confirmation of the mineral deal. Still, the meeting devolved into a shouting match, and the Ukrainian president left the White House early.

https://thehill.com/homenews/5171459-live-updates-trump-zelensky-clash-government-funding-doge-cuts/

And about those Medicaid ‘cuts’

 Nevada Democrats believe they’ve found a potent issue in GOP Medicaid reform. Last week, they hammered Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, accusing him of not aggressively opposing potential “cuts” in the federal program, which offers health care to the indigent.

Gov. Lombardo, trying to defuse the point, responded with a statement insisting that he’s “actively engaged in conversation” with the Trump White House to minimize problems for Nevada. “An abrupt reduction in federal funding would not only disrupt care for those who rely on Medicaid,” he said, “but would also destabilize public and private health-care providers.”

The governor’s perfunctory remarks will hardly satisfy his liberal critics, who have been on the defensive in the midst of President Donald Trump’s onslaught. But it’s worth putting this controversy in some perspective.

Mr. Trump has vowed not to touch entitlement programs, but Democrats latched on to the issue after House Republicans passed a budget blueprint that orders the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in savings from Medicare over the next decade. Nevada Democrats argue that could short the state $1.9 billion in federal funds. In fact, however, there will be no “cuts” — at least not in the traditional meaning of the term.

Baseline budget projections from the General Accounting Office, The Wall Street Journal noted last week, project spending on Medicare to increase $2.4 trillion through 2035, so “shaving $880 billion from that baseline would still amount to a $1.5 trillion increase in Medicaid spending,” the paper reported. Only in Washington is a 2 percent auto-pilot annual spending increase called a “cut.”

Medicaid spending has exploded in recent years, the Journal highlights, growing “207 percent since 2008” — far in excess of Social Security and Medicare growth. That’s largely because Democrats — in their piecemeal attempts to nationalize the health care industry — have repeatedly expanded eligibility requirements to rope in middle-class families, intentionally making it more politically dangerous to reform. What started as a program created for the poor now serves as primary health insurance for many workers capable of supporting themselves. In Nevada, for instance, nearly 1 in 4 residents is on Medicaid while the state’s federal poverty rate was 12 percent in 2023.

Reform is not synonymous with throwing the poor out on the street to fend for themselves. A work requirement for able-bodied recipients is politically popular and would save $120 billion over a decade, according to a House report. Tightening improper payments could save even more. The General Accounting Office found that Medicaid and Medicare issued $100 billion in payments that should not have been made in fiscal 2023. That’s $1 trillion over 10 years. Obviously there are savings to be had by more stringent accounting controls and eligibility requirements.

Congress does nobody any favors — least of all, those who truly need Medicaid — by ignoring the fate of fiscally unsustainable entitlement programs. But whatever direction congressional Republicans take — and that remains uncertain — actual budget “cuts” to Medicaid are exceedingly unlikely.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-and-about-those-medicaid-cuts-3313111/

Cheerleaders Of The Ukraine War Are Watching The Narrative Falling Apart Right Before Their Eyes

 Breccan Thies, The Federalist's elections correspondent, to FOX News host Trace Gallaher: "Many of those outlets, CNN, MSNBC, and the like, are sort of the kind of outlets that you would never go to if you ever wanted to get any kind of accurate information. The fact of the matter is, is that the American people, by a measure of three to one, want to end this war, they don't want endless funding of wars, they made that pretty clear in November. I think what's happening here is that the corporate media is not used to seeing this happen out in the open, and them being many of the people who are very supportive and the biggest cheerleaders of this war, that narrative is kind of falling apart right before their eyes, and I don't think that they know how to react to it."

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/03/01/breccan_thies_cheerleaders_of_the_ukraine_war_are_watching_the_narrative_falling_apart_right_before_their_eyes.html

Zelensky Foolishly Followed Team Obama's Advice to a T

 Yesterday, Susan Rice said of the Trump-Zelensky meeting, "There is no question this was a set up." She revealed full knowledge of the mineral agreement, complained that it didn't include "concrete" security agrees (meaning, apparently, commitment of US troops on the ground if conditions merit), and then mischaracterized Trump's behavior, counting on most Americans to not have watched what transpired over the entire hour in the Oval Office.

You can look at this and dismiss it as typical Democrat talking points, but you could also view it as almost a confession, one that includes details about the current "Get Trump" effort. Yes, Trump won the popular vote against unbelievable odds, but if you think Team Obama is being any less involved in quiet insurrections than they were during the first Trump administration (Russia collusion, Ukraine impeachment, etc.), you're clueless. I'll remind you that Susan Rice was in the small Jan. 5, 2017 meeting in the WH with other key Russia collusion hoax perpetrators. Zelensky repeatedly declined opportunities to sign the deal in Kyiv and Munich, and requested the meeting at the White House. It later came out that Rice and Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, and Alexander Vindman may have been personally advising Zelensky to do this meeting in the way he did -- that they recommended him to be hostile and to try to goad Trump into blowing up. Even though he didn't, and even though Zelensky's actions horrified many normal Americans, the Obama team went on the airwaves to falsely characterize what happened. I think their goal was to have a wonderful performance by Zelensky, an angry Trump appearing to scuttle the deal, and the support of the neocon portion of the GOP to start applying pressure on Trump to have US Troop commitments as part of the "security guarantee." It was a set-up, in Susan Rice's interesting choice of words. Instead, Zelensky had one of the worst stage performances of his acting career, and Trump was statesmanlike (against all odds) throughout. Zelensky followed Team Obama's advice to be hostile to a tee, but it didn't land how they thought it would. Surprisingly, one of the most important aspects of it not working out might have been Lindsay Graham's reaction. Had he and other neocons thought Zelensky was being reasonable, Trump would be having to fight (even moreso) the neocon portion of the GOP in addition to Team Obama's dirty tricks. Even the "conservative" neocon pundits on TV last night were admitting Zelensky had royally messed up. As you can see from the hostility of the bureaucracy to any Republican oversight, no matter how reasonable or minor it may be, the entrenched bureaucracy and permanent DC apparatus is quite active. That goes quadruple for the deep state in the Intelligence Community. I'd expect more and more shenanigans and to be prepared so that you don't fall for the next information operation. The post-WWII architecture in Europe and the US needs this war to continue or be settled on "US troops on the ground" type guarantees, even though that's not what Americans want. Things will heat up here, and it's a very dangerous time.

--Mollie Hemingway

https://x.com/MZHemingway/status/1895872853930545214

Finland Ends Seizure of Shadow Fleet Ship Held for Cable Damage

• Vessel’s anchor damaged data cables, power link on Dec. 25
• Eagle S to be escorted from Finnish waters by Border Guard

Finland has ended the seizure of a shadow fleet tanker that pulled up four underwater data cables and a power link on Dec. 25 as investigations proceed.

The Eagle S will be escorted by the Border Guard from Finnish territorial waters, the police said in an emailed statement on Sunday. Eight crew members are still suspected of offenses, and three of them are prevented from leaving the country, the police said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-02/finland-ends-seizure-of-shadow-fleet-ship-held-for-cable-damage

SNL hits Cuomo’s sexual harassment scandals

 Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” ripped former New York governor Andrew Cuomo — taking aim at allegations of sexual-harassment against the pol.

Update co-anchor Michael Che was ready with a sharp barb for Cuomo, who officially announced his candidacy for mayor earlier Saturday in a lengthy video.

“Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has decided to run for mayor of New York City,” Che said.

3

“Weekend Update” co-anchor Michael Che introduces a joke about former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo entering the NYC Mayor race on March 1, 2025.SNL/X

“Cuomo plans to use his old campaign slogan of ‘honka, honka,’” he added while miming grabbing a woman’s breasts.

00:00

04:43

The joke alludes to the several women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, which resulted in him resigning from his executive position in the New York government in 2021. Cuomo has denied the allegations.

One of the ex-gov’s accusers said she is disgusted by his reentry into the public square, in an exclusive interview with The Post.

“It’s absolutely disgusting that someone who’s an abuser, not simply of women, but of New Yorkers as a whole, would come out of his cave and think that he is the best person to help New York in crisis,” the unnamed accuser told The Post.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/02/entertainment/snl-roasts-ex-gov-andrew-cuomos-decision-to-run-for-mayor-of-nyc/