Key Takeaways
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse publicly called out Senator Cynthia Lummis for canceling a meeting without rescheduling.
- Brad Garlinghouse invited Luimmis for a meeting over the X space, but didn’t get a response.
- The crypto community called out the Ripple CEO for calling out a senator in public over the cancellation of a private meeting.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse found himself at the center of controversy this week after publicly calling out U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis for backing out of a planned meeting without offering to reschedule.
Lummis, a vocal crypto advocate and head of the Senate’s Digital Assets Subcommittee, has long been seen as an ally of the industry.
Garlinghouse seemed eager to engage with her, especially given her influence and the fact that she represents Wyoming, one of the most crypto-forward states in the U.S.
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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Calls Out Senator Cynthia Lummis
In a post on X on Monday, Garlinghouse invited Senator Lummis to join a conversation on the platform’s X Space to discuss crypto strategy.
He appealed to Lummis as a congressional leader from a crypto-friendly state, urging her to reconsider her cancellation.
“I invite you to join me on an X Space anytime (or in a live conversation onstage at one of the many events we cross paths at) to talk about how to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world,” he wrote.
While the reasons for Lummis’s cancellation remain unclear, some in the crypto community speculate it could be tied to Garlinghouse’s past stance on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and Ripple’s anti-Bitcoin campaign.
Ripple was also active in the recent U.S. general election, donating hundreds of millions of dollars and campaigning for pro-crypto Donald Trump.
Garlinghouse’s public callout of Senator Lummis didn’t go over well with many in the crypto community, who criticized him for airing internal disputes in public.
Chainlink executive Zach Rynes commented ,
“Bizarre tweet. If she didn’t want to take a private meeting, why call her out publicly? That won’t help relations, and why offer an even more public livestream discussion?”
Meanwhile, Pierre Rochard, CEO of a Bitcoin bond company, said Garlinghouse “lost all credibility by pushing for CBDCs and against Bitcoin.”
Though Ripple’s settlement of the SEC lawsuit brought it back into the U.S. crypto scene, the company’s past policies and anti-Bitcoin stance continue to haunt its reputation.
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