Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse meets with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted a photo on X revealing that he recently met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The photo also revealed that Ripple’s CLO Stuart Alderoty accompanied Garlinghouse.

President-elect Donald Trump met with Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on 8th January. The two were also joined by Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty.

Ripple’s executives meet the US President-elect Donald Trump

According to a photo shared by Brad Garlinghouse on X, Stuart Alderoty and Garlinghouse dined together with Donald Trump. Garlinghouse used the caption, “Strong start to 2025!” Although it is evident that the three met, the meeting details are still unclear, but could be more inclined towards crypto legislation. 

The meeting comes at a crucial time for Ripple, the eve of a critical deadline for the case between the U.S. regulator and the blockchain venture specializing in cross-border payments.

Great dinner last night with @realDonaldTrump & @s_alderoty.

Strong start to 2025! pic.twitter.com/UjM6lahUG4

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 8, 2025

Garlinghouse has recently expressed optimism about Trump’s future impact on the crypto industry. On January 5th, the executive highlighted on X that Trump’s bull market is real. Garlinghouse said Trump’s effect on the crypto industry is personal for Ripple. He cited the years-long battle Ripple had with the U.S. financial watchdog (The US SEC) under Gary Gensler’s reign. 

According to the X post, Garlinghouse explained that Gensler’s SEC effectively froze business opportunities for Ripple in the United States. He also emphasized that the optimism behind Trump’s involvement in the digital asset landscape is “obvious and well deserved.”

Garlinhouse also explained that 75% of Ripple’s open roles originate from the U.S., compared to the last four years when a vast majority of Ripple hires were outside the U.S. Garlinghouse also detailed that Ripple has garnered more US deals since Trump won the elections than in the preceding six months.

Garlinghouse said that Trump and his incoming administration, including crypto-oriented appointments Scott Bessent, David Sacks, and Paul Atkins, are already jumpstarting innovation and job growth in the US despite the fact that he has yet to be sworn in. Garlinghouse also expressed his belief that the “Trump effect” is already making crypto great again.

During an interview with 60 Minutes, Brad Garlinghouse said Trump embraced crypto, and crypto embraced Donald Trump. According to crypto data aggregator CoinMarketCap, Ripple’s XRP has shed 3.19% in the last 24 hours, bringing its seven-day gain to 10.58%. The digital asset boasts a 24-hour trading volume of $8.2 billion and a market capitalization of $133.4 billion at the time of this publication.

Trump meets crypto exchange CEOs Brian Armstrong and Kris Marszalek

The Trump-Garlinghouse-Alderoty dinner is Trump’s latest meeting with leading crypto figures since his re-election on November 5th. On November 19th, Trump’s newfound influence in the crypto industry resulted in a call between the president-elect and Coinbase’s founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong.

Sources familiar with the meeting anonymously revealed that Armstrong and Trump mainly touched on crypto appointments, although the two did not discuss specific individuals and appointments. 

During the campaign period, Armstrong and his company donated nearly $50 million to support pro-crypto candidates, including the president-elect, who once claimed crypto and Bitcoin were scams. On November 18th, The Wall Street Journal reported that Armstrong and Trump were going to meet privately, but no further reports have surfaced to confirm if the meetup happened.

On December 17th, Trump also met Kris Marszalek, the CEO of crypto exchange Crypto.com, at the Florida golf course. According to an anonymous lead from a source familiar with the meeting, the two discussed crypto-related appointments and Trump’s plan to make Bitcoin a strategic reserve asset for the U.S. Treasury. 

In October, Crypto.com filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after receiving a Wells notice indicating the regulator’s intention to bring an enforcement action against the Singapore-based crypto exchange. However, the exchange voluntarily withdrew the suit, citing its intentions to work with Trump’s incoming administration.

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