Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces backlash for his scathing attack on Bitcoin maximalism

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has come out against Bitcoin maximalism, which advocates BTC as the sole candidate for a potential national digital asset reserve. 

On X, Garlinghouse shared his firm disapproval of this train of thought and has since faced criticism:

“Maximalism remains the enemy of crypto progress, and I’m very glad to see fewer and fewer folks ascribe to this outdated and misinformed thinking.”

~ Garlinghouse

The Ripple CEO supports the idea of a U.S. digital asset reserve encompassing multiple tokens and not just Bitcoin (BTC) or XRP.

Garlinghouse advocates for a diverse digital asset reserve

Garlinghouse revealed that he owns XRP, BTC, and ETH, among a handful of others, and he had advocated for a level-playing field instead of one token versus another. He noted that if a government digital asset reserve is created, it should be representative of the industry, not just one token. Ripple CEO said on X.

A few days ago, U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration would evaluate whether to create a national digital asset stockpile. He had backed the idea in the lead-up to the November elections.

Traders and market observers anticipates that a potential reserve would include Bitcoin, the leading digital asset by market value and the one with the highest level of institutional adoption. Currently, traders active over decentralized betting platform Polymarket only see a 17% chance of Trump greenlighting the project in the first 100 days of his administration.

Crypto community delivers mixed responses to Garlinghouse’s Bitcoin critique

Garlinghouse’s comments have generated various reactions throughout the crypto community. Some, like Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio), have asked for a more in-depth conversation, claiming that Garlinghouse’s stance requires more than a few characters and should be explored in a long-form interview.

Others, such as Jamie Warm (@JamieWarm), have changed the subject to Ripple, asking how much XRP the company buys.

Mr. HODL (@SirArnoldCoiner) was rather unfriendly in his analysis, accusing Ripple of shedding its pre-mined XRP on retail traders and accusing the company of having no conscience. 

Still, XRPcryptowolf (@XRPcryptowolf) is staying positive and pointing out that the XRP community just wants the whole crypto industry to prosper together. This aligns with Garlinghouse’s thesis that a national reserve should embody the breadth of the digital asset space, not merely a particular digital asset. 

From another angle, though, frustration was apparent from some members of the XRP community. Funny guy Butchy (@ButchyBuchannon) asked when XRP would “beat the shit out of Bitcoin,” expressing disappointment over XRP’s perceived lack of progress relative to Bitcoin despite Garlinghouse’s calls for unity.

For now, the government has not revealed the names of crypto assets that will be included in the reserve. A week ago, Trump established a working group to review the risks and prospects of forming the digital asset reserve.

The group includes senior leadership from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) but also provides representation to other agencies and cabinet positions, suggesting a variety of stakeholder interests, including national security.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Are You Making These Web3 Resume Mistakes? - Find Out Here