- Brad Garlinghouse faces backlash over his alleged meeting with Trump.
- The Ripple Labs CEO reportedly promoted XRP and CBDC policies.
- Among the people who didn’t welcome the reported meeting was the former Messari CEO, Ryan Selkis.
Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse is facing criticism after reportedly promoting XRP and CBDC policies at a rumored meeting with the Republican Party President-elect Donald Trump.
Rumors about Garlinghouse’s alleged meeting with Trump began circulating on social media on November 16 after the CEO appeared in an interview with FOX Business. While Garlinghouse neither confirmed nor denied the news, the reported meeting coincided with Ripple’s native currency, XRP, double-digit rally to $1.
Crypto Industry’s Reaction to the Alleged Meeting
Although Garlinghouse expressed his optimism about the digital asset landscape’s future under Donald Trump’s administration, citing the President-elect’s pro-crypto stance, industry executives didn’t welcome the news of his reported meeting and took to X to call the CEO out.
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Among the first observers to express their discontentment with the alleged development was former Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, who accused Garlinghouse of “shilling XRP and CBDC implementations.
“Brad Garlinghouse is shilling XRP and CBDC implementations. I am shilling American dynamism, and smart appointments that will solidify Trump’s legacy. We are not the same,” Selkis wrote in a post.
Reposting Selkis’ comments to his thousands of followers, Riot Platforms’ Vice President of Research, Pierre Rochard, also expressed concerns about Garlinghouse’s relationship with the new administration.
“We can’t let Ripple co-opt the United States policymaking process with their anti-bitcoin agenda. Hopefully Trump will staff his Administration with more bitcoiners!” Rochard said.
The development comes as the industry keenly watches how Trump will implement crypto-friendly policies as promised during the presidential election campaigns.
In addition to making America the world’s crypto “capital,” Trump vowed to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the U.S. Treasury and offer broader support to the BTC mining industry and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Trump also promised to fire the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chair, Gary Gensler.
Read this article to find out what recently buoyed XRP’s price:
XRP Soars 111% in 15 Days: What’s Driving the Surge?
Stay updated on Craig Wright’s newly-found hate for billionaire Bitcoin holders:
Craig Wright Attacks Billionaires for Treating Bitcoin as “Speculative Asset”
