Ripple, XRP, Garlinghouse, and Trump have been set up for a fall – What’s with all the rumors?

Merely days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump is at the centre of another controversy; but this time it involves Ripple and XRP. The New York Times reported that when Ripple executives met with Trump on January 8, they “advised” him to add XRP alongside Bitcoin in the proposed federal crypto reserve. Did Trump say anything close to yes? Absolutely not.

Chatter made rounds around the crypto community today, saying that Trump was “receptive” to Garlinghouse’s suggestions. Several sources, including Ripple Labs attorney Stuart Alderoty and pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, have dismissed every bit of the speculative comments. So, where did the rumors come from? Well, your guess is as good as ours.

Wow, unnamed sources? Here’s a named source: me. The rumors published by this 3rd-tier crypto rag are pure fiction. Completely made up.

Wonder who’s behind this? 🤔

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) January 16, 2025

On the backdrop of the falsified news, XRP, the crypto tied to Ripple, skyrocketed to a seven-year high of $3.40. XRP naysayers are livid that the token is experiencing an upward trend because of Ripple’s association with the White House. 

And while this maybe true, isn’t the rest of the cryptocurrency market, particularly Bitcoin, trading on positives too? It’s harsh to pin XRP’s recent price charge all on Trump.  

Did Trump and Ripple sign a deal at Mar-a-Lago?

Earlier this month, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, attorney Alderoty and Trump had a private dinner at the incoming POTUS’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The New York Times revealed on Thursday that in the meeting, Garlinghouse proposed a creation of a U.S. federal crypto reserve that would include XRP alongside Bitcoin. 

Ripple did not publicly confirm the news, but Susan Hendrick, Ripple’s senior director of communications, admitted that Garlinghouse had indeed pitched the idea.

Unnamed sources slightly twisted Hendrick’s statements, claiming that Trump was “receptive” to the idea; The New York Times did not corroborate Trump’s receptiveness. The unverified sources now claim that it’s Ripple themselves who started the rumors.

Since the year started,  Brad Garlinghouse has been making a series of cryptic social media posts targeted towards the White House. In one post on X, he hailed 2025 as the beginning of a “Trump bull market” and talked about Ripple’s renewed focus on the US market. But here’s the addendum.

2025 is here and the Trump bull market is real. For Ripple, this is even more personal after Gensler's SEC effectively froze our business opportunities here at home for years. The optimism is obvious and very deserved.

Today:
✅75% of Ripple’s open roles are now US-based, while…

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 5, 2025

Garlinghouse pointed out that Ripple had shifted 75% of its hiring to the United States and secured more domestic deals in the last six weeks of 2024 than in the previous six months. It does sound like he’s seeking some sort of a “thumbs up.” from the incoming administration. And we haven’t even gotten to Ripple’s donations to Trump’s Inauguration yet.

Unverified sources cited by Axios claim donors are giving money to the 47th President, hoping to get something in return. Trump, as we have known for aeons, has an unpredictable nature, so these efforts are all a huge gamble.

Again, for a company that has battled regulatory uncertainty under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, the timing of these announcements, are anything but coincidental. But one thing is almost certain; SEC isn’t winning the case against Ripple after January 20.

Ripple will thrive, but not entirely because of Trump

Netizens see Ripple’s rumored overtures to Trump as vying for favor with the president-elect. But we all know Trump can’t be bought; he would rather pursue his own agenda than anyone else’s, even with money at the table.

That said, the company is in the midst of an ongoing battle with financial regulator SEC, led by outgoing chairman Gary Gensler. If a favorable ruling towards the new stablecoin issuer, or even the dismissal of the lawsuit under a new SEC leadership, takes place, XRP will turn “good” in the eyes of investors. 

Gensler, very much on brand – completely dismissive of the 2024 election and the American public – fully commits to his failed ‘regulation-by-enforcement agenda to the bitter, bitter end. #Sad https://t.co/1FEzB8d13o

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 14, 2025

Pro-XRP lawyer Deaton, through a post on X, noted how XRP’s resurgence has reignited old rivalries and narratives. XRP is outperforming major Bitcoin and Ethereum in the US, which Deaton believes some members of the community hate, what he termed as “crypto tribalism.”

“My God, if XRP gets close to flipping ETH, some people might just lose their minds on CT and YouTube,” he reiterated.

This rivalry isn’t unique to XRP, Deaton explained. “As BTC goes higher, you will witness people opposed to BTC become angry and jealous and spread FUD…Tribalism is real.”

Let me get this straight:

Someone, not present at the meeting, admitted to someone else that he/she was speculating at what COULD’VE POSSIBLY been said at the dinner between @realDonaldTrump @bgarlinghouse & @s_alderoty. 🤔

This is why we have rules of evidence in Court. In… https://t.co/sEGvJ5H3Ql

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) January 17, 2025

The US veteran, however, appreciated the community for backing his efforts of suing the SEC after seeing he wasn’t just fighting for Ripple, it was for the whole crypto industry,

“When people realized my efforts were really about fighting the SEC’s gross overreach—and that I wasn’t a paid plant for Ripple—things did change,” Deaton remarked. “People in the industry have been great to me.“

From where we stand, the future of XRP, Trump and Ripple is not entirely clear, but certain individuals are willing to take the company down and alongside it, President-elect Trump’s plans. However, we all know how hard it is to keep the latter down, so maybe, just maybe, Ripple also has its best fighting chance too.

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