Washington: Cryptocurrency prices briefly jumped after President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement he wants the US government to purchase and hold a variety of digital assets in a strategic reserve fund, an announcement that highlights Trump’s growing attempts to use volatile cryptocurrency prices as a barometer of his public support.

Trump said on social media Sunday that his administration is working toward creating a ‘Crypto Strategic Reserve’ that will include lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana, and cardano. He later followed up with another post saying his planned reserve would also include bitcoin and ether, the two most popular cryptocurrencies.

The announcement helped crypto prices enjoy a brief rebound after recent sell-offs. Bitcoin shot up to about $95,000 after dipping below $80,000 last week. XRP, solana and cardano saw massive spikes in their prices after Trump’s announcement Sunday. But by Monday afternoon, prices had fallen roughly back to where they were before Trump’s announcement. US stocks also fell sharply Monday after Trump confirmed plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Advocates for the government holding a crypto reserve said would help diversify government holdings and hedge against financial risks. Critics say the volatility of cryptocurrencies makes them a poor choice as a reserve asset.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged support for a “strategic national bitcoin” stockpile, which would include bitcoin the US government has previously seized in law enforcement actions. Sunday's announcement was the first time he advocated for the government to hold other types of cryptocurrencies. The inclusion of cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin is likely to face sustained pushback among some corners of the heavily divided cryptocurrency industry. Bitcoin is the oldest and by far most popular cryptocurrency, and accounts for more than half of the world's global crypto market cap.

Some of Trump's major allies in the industry expressed surprise and some skepticism of Trump's plan. “Just bitcoin would probably be the best option - simplest, and clear story as successor to gold,” said Brian Armstrong, the CEO of the crypto exchange Coinbase.