A longstanding beef between two of crypto’s heavyweights may finally be coming to a close after Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson and Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse make vague hints at what many perceive to be a possible future partnership between the two.
Over the past few years, Hoskinson has frequently argued with the XRP community, which mostly began over the ETHGate theory.
It alleges that before 2020, Ethereum (ETH) insiders bribed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its former chairman, William Hinman, to give it an easier passage past the regulator and have it acknowledged as a non-security.
Hinman retired shortly after, and the hawkish Gary Gensler was subsequently appointed to the role. Following this, coins such as XRP got hit with lawsuits for selling unregistered securities by the SEC.
Outspoken on the matter, Hoskinson (also a co-founder of Ethereum) has battled the XRP community, which he has labeled as “toxic.” He argued that the XRP community manipulated the story to “become a lie that is beyond recognition.”
While Hoskinson promised never to comment on the XRP lawsuit, he broke his silence and noted that he didn’t believe it was a security. He also argued that ETH was treated differently due to its “size, scale, and scope,” not some backdoor bribe.
Hoskinson has gone as far as to hint that Cardano and Ripple couldn’t collaborate based on the technical differences and aims of the networks, as well as the “constant” attacks from the XRP community. Though following posts from Hoskinson and Garlinghouse, things could be about to change.
In a sudden and ambiguous turn of events, Hoskinson posted to X stating that he had spoken with Garlinghouse and noted that the XRP CEO was “extremely collaborative” and “excited” about the future. Carrying that same sentiment, Garlinghouse responded:
Is a partnership in the making? Who knows. Though Hoskinson then followed up:
The chances that it will be blockchain-centric is unlikely as the SEC lawsuit against Ripple remains ongoing, as does the crypto industry’s battle for regulatory clarity.
Furthermore, Cardano has recently completed a major hard fork and has entered into the final phase of its development roadmap, the Voltaire era, which will see the network become completely decentralized.
The likelihood is that the duo could become a powerful united front in the battle for regulatory clarity in the U.S.