Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., has canceled a meeting with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, dashing hopes for a potential shift in dynamics in the long-running power struggle between the Bitcoin and XRP communities.
Garlinghouse took to X on Monday to reveal that Lummis, known for championing a national strategic Bitcoin reserve, “canceled a meeting” with him and will not reschedule.
Ripple CEO calls out Lummis
In his Monday revelation, Garlinghouse said he was heading to the Capitol “to champion sensible pro-crypto legislation around stablecoins and market structure.”
As he has done in the past, the Ripple leader called for open-mindedness when it comes to politicians dealing with the cryptocurrency industry. He specifically called on Lummis to reconsider her stance.
“As a leader in Congress and Senator from one of the most crypto-friendly states (WY), I hope you will reconsider and be a leader for all of crypto,” he wrote.
Despite his subtle jab at the Bitcoin-friendly senator, who also chaired the Senate’s Digital Assets Subcommittee, Garlinghouse said it was still encouraging to see that some government officials “look at crypto as it should be – a multichain industry.”
This was hardly the first time Garlinghouse criticized “maximalism,” a term used by crypto users to refer to crypto holders who believe a specific digital coin is the only digital asset the world will need in the future.
$XRP dips amid news
XRP, the world’s current fourth-largest crypto asset by market capitalization, retreated Monday after news of the canceled meeting spread across crypto communities.
Data from CoinGecko showed that XRP prices plunged as low as $2.30 from trading at around $2.38 earlier in the day.
Despite the price dip, XRP remains in the green, climbing by 0.6% in the last 24 hours.
Ripple oversees the development of the XRP Ledger, whose native cryptocurrency is XRP.
There has been an ongoing war of words between BTC maximalists and the XRP Army, which has often pushed Bitcoin and XRP to trend on social media.
$BTC maximalists, $XRP army clash on X
On X, where the bitter word war among top crypto communities has triggered questions on unity in the space, another exchange of words emerged from Garlinghouse’s revelation.
Prominent BTC maximalist Pierre Rochard blasted Garlinghouse for his alleged push for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “Nobody takes you seriously anymore,” the Bitcoin Bond Company CEO said.
Chainlink community liaison Zach Rynes said Garlinghouse shouldn’t have called out Lummis publicly, saying it doesn’t help improve crypto’s relationship with politicians.
Other prominent crypto users encouraged Lummis to take up Garlinghouse’s offer to discuss the broader crypto space with the Ripple CEO through an X Spaces session.
Some also encouraged Lummis to join advocacy groups that provide advice on pro-crypto policies.
Others in the XRP community said Lummis may want “an unfair advantage for Bitcoin” since a level-playing field for all crypto firms and projects might threaten the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.
The official X handle of the Rowen Exchange agreed that Garlinghouse was right for publicly revealing Lummis’s cancelation of the meeting, indicating growing demand for political interest in other crypto coins and companies outside the Bitcoin brand.
Lummis has yet to respond to concerns around her supposed favor of BTC and rejection of other crypto projects.
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