On May 19, 2025, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed on X that his high-stakes meeting with Sen. Cynthia Lummis, chair of the Digital Assets Subcommittee, was abruptly canceled, sending shockwaves through Crypto X. Speculation erupted, with many pointing to Lummis’ son-in-law, Will Cole—a vocal Bitcoin maximalist known for reposting anti-Ripple content—as a potential influence behind the snub, fueling fresh waves of XRP FUD.
The timing of this cancelled meeting only fuels the fire as it coincides with the alleged behind-the-scenes negotiation between Circle and Ripple, with the latter attempting to buy the former. Another company interested in buying Circle is Coinbase, a company that gets along with Lummis better, according to observers.
Ripple critics again alleged that the real reason behind buying Circle is dumping XRP coins in exchange for fiat money. Ripple is an American company behind one of the top five cryptocurrencies, XRP. From the start, Ripple took a path different from the mainstream anti-banking ethos of the crypto community. XRP was supposed to be a cryptocurrency integrated into the traditional banking system. XRP is in control of Ripple. It has high transaction speed and network capacity; however, many doubt that Ripple can be called decentralized. The company was founded by Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen. Brad Garlinghouse became CEO in 2016.
Possible reasons for meeting cancellation
Lummis is hands down one of the most prominent pro-crypto U.S. lawmakers of the 2020s. As the CEO of one of the biggest cryptocurrency brands, Ripple, Garlinghouse believed he would be involved in the high-profile stakes discussion over stablecoin legislation in the US. However, it seems the CEO is being ghosted by the regulatory circle around Lummis, with observers noting that there may be a rift forming between the two.
Garlinghouse himself took to X to voice these concerns.
There may be many reasons for the cancellation of this meeting. One of the first things that comes to mind is that these days the Senate turned into a battlespace around the Genius Act, a bill aimed to create a framework for the U.S. stablecoin issuers. The bill was blocked by the Senate Democrats earlier this month. Lummis and her colleagues in the Senate were working for two weeks to make amendments to win the Democrats’ vote on May 20, when the Senate voted on the latest iteration of the bill, right after the planned meeting with Garlinghouse.
Ripple advocates pointed to a different motive beyond a mere scheduling conflict, suspecting that Sen. Lummis was swayed by her son-in-law, Will Cole, a vocal Bitcoin maximalist known for his anti-Ripple stance, prompting some online voices to cry conflict of interest.
Will Cole’s alleged influence & political tensions
An avid Bitcoin advocate, Pierre Rochard, derided Garlinghouse’s publication in which the latter informed the public about the sudden cancellation of his meeting with Lummis. The fact that Cole reposted these publications and posts of other people bashing Garlinghouse after the meeting cancellation caught the eye of Ripple supporters, who found out there is a connection between Cole and Lummis.
Rochard’s criticism of Ripple explains the essence of the problem why many people don’t trust Ripple. Rochard believes that the company is selling its coin XRP all the time to get revenue. It makes him think that Ripple is kind of a centralized fraud company that creates XRP coins out of thin air and sells them in exchange for fiat money. Bitcoin purists voice similar accusations against Ethereum as well.
Rochard, just like Donald Trump, has a sharp anti-CBDC stance; thus, he is criticizing Garlinghouse for advocating for CBDCs. The central bank-issued cryptocurrencies are an approach that has become mainstream in Europe. The GOP, however, opposes a digital dollar and prefers stablecoins issued by the companies, as they don’t compromise operational privacy.
Pierre Rochard himself points to the pro-Democrat sentiment of Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen, who donated $10 million worth of XRP to Kamala Harris when she was running for the office. This donation made Larsen the biggest individual sponsor of the Harris.
Larsen explained in the X post that he believes Harris will ensure that American technology will dominate the world. Garlinghouse distanced himself from the support for Harris, but emphasized that the Biden-era approach to crypto should be changed for a better one.
The fact of the donation became another reason to accuse Ripple of dumping its coins in bulk.
While it is clear why Cole or like-minded people sharply oppose Ripple, it is still not clear why Sen. Lummis should cancel the meeting with Garlinghouse based on her political leanings.
While criticism persists, Ripple continues to struggle legally, as on May 15, a judge denied the SEC settlement, which could help Ripple solve its problems. It seems that 2025 is a harder year for Ripple than for many other U.S. crypto giants.
