Invest in a Crypto Made in the USA

Dear Subscriber,

Don’t let anyone tell you crypto is boring.

As my colleague Marija Matić broke down yesterday, the markets have been on a wild ride after President Trump announced the five crypto projects that will be included in the planned Crypto Strategic Reserve.

Markets rallied on the news, especially considering this was the first instance where the president used the term “reserve” instead of stockpile. This is a key legal difference, and one that implies continued purchases of these assets:

However, prices quickly fell back as traders took the chance to grab gains.

Still, this is a good indication of solid growth potential in these cryptos. Long-term investors may want to consider adding these to their watchlists.

But there is another takeaway from President Trump’s announcement. One that could reveal another opportunity.

And a quick look at this lineup reveals something interesting. With the exception of the two largest cryptos — Bitcoin (BTC, “A”) and Ethereum (ETH, “B+”) — the lineup is comprised distinctly of coins “made in America.”

Now, cryptocurrencies are, by nature, decentralized.

That’s why no crypto enthusiast considers digital assets like Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to be true cryptos. After all, they are still controlled by a single authority.

Related story: Discovering a Decentralized Future Without CBDCs

As such, there’s no such thing as an “American crypto” or “Chinese crypto,” for example. But if we consider where the team behind a crypto project is mainly based, we can start to form borders.

And the other three named cryptos — Solana (SOL, “B”), XRP (XRP, “B-”) and Cardano (ADA, “B+”) — all have teams based in the U.S.

With the U.S. making noted efforts to clarify its crypto regulatory landscape and open up opportunities for crypto innovation, “American coins” stand to see a substantial boon.

And there’s one coin that’s “made in the U.S.” that has real potential for investors willing to take on a little more risk.

Ondo: The RWA Coin Made in the USA

Ondo Finance (ONDO, Not Yet Rated) is a DeFi protocol focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) — like U.S. Treasurys and bonds — to bring institutional-grade financial products onto the blockchain.

Its value lies in bridging traditional finance with DeFi to offer liquidity, accessibility and yield opportunities to TradFi and institutional investors who are otherwise cut off from DeFi services like these.

Its flagship products include tokenized funds like $OUSG, a short-term U.S. Treasury fund, and $USDY, a tokenized note that yields stable returns.

The ONDO token is used for governance within the Ondo DAO and Flux Finance, a lending protocol. And, as you can see, it has performed rather well over the course of the past year.

This project has a $3.5 billion market cap which has seen an uptick after the recent Crypto Reserve announcement … despite not being one of the listed assets to go into the reserve.

Hence, my optimism that U.S.-based teams will see their projects benefit from the new administration’s approach to crypto.

Speaking of, the Ondo team is led by Nathan Allman and Justin Schmidt, both ex-Goldman Sachs digital assets team members. They bring together the strong traditional finance insight and blockchain expertise needed to support a project like this.

Other key members hail from firms like BlackRock, MakerDAO and OpenSea, suggesting a blend of TradFi and DeFi experience. And they have secured backing from notable VCs like Founders Fund, Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures, reflecting confidence in their execution capability.

Fundamentals

Total value locked, or TVL, is a measure of how much liquidity a DeFi platform has locked away. And since liquidity in DeFi is often supplied by users like you and me in exchange for a reward, TVL is also a good measure of active usership.

And while Ondo’s TVL has climbed gradually since its launch in 2023, there was a notable spike following Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

This also coincides with the World Liberty Financial purchases of ONDO.

Final Thoughts

Ondo Finance is a project that has multiple bullish factors working in its favor.

It not only benefits from RWA tokenization — a major narrative over the course of this bull market — but it also stands to ride this new push for U.S.-based projects.

And while it may not be slated to join the Crypto Strategic Reserve, it did see a large purchase by the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial.

Related story: Benefit from the DeFi Project Backed by Trump

It also has an active community, though there have been no major hype spikes noted in February 2025.

However, investors should be aware that, due to a low circulating to fully diluted supply ratio, this token has more inflation down the road.

And RWA projects are more sensitive to macroeconomic conditions and the state of the TradFi markets.

So, caution is called for, as it always is with crypto investments.

But if you’ve got the stomach to take on a smaller, more volatile project with big growth potential, you may want to keep Ondo Finance on your watchlist.

Best,

Dr. Bruce Ng