Is Ripple Lobbying against a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve? After US President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) establishing a crypto-focused working group on January 23, the heated debate flared up on X. The order goals to control digital assets and explore the creation of a so-called “digital asset strategic reserve.” Although the EO doesn’t specifically discover Bitcoin, its language underscores a broader mandate to strengthen American leadership in digital financial technology—while explicitly banning the event or deployment of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Is Ripple Lobbying Against A Bitcoin Reserve?

Shortly before the manager order was signed, Pierre Rochard, Vice President of Research at Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) and a distinguished early adopter, posted an announcement via X on January 23, calling out Ripple/XRP as  “the largest obstacle” for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).

He asserted: “The most important obstacle for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve isn’t the Fed, Treasury, banks, or Elizabeth Warren. It’s Ripple/XRP. They’re aggressively lobbying against the SBR by throwing around $hundreds of thousands at politicians, desperately attempting to derail it. They did the identical to attack Bitcoin mining under the Biden administration. Obviously they wish to protect their marketing narratives and push for CBDCs built on their platform.”

Rochard’s accusations center on the claim that Ripple goals to undermine a BTC-only strategic reserve in favor of what he alleges is a broader “crypto reserve” that features XRP and possibly other tokens. He also revived longstanding criticisms of the corporate’s lobbying activities, alluding to the efforts of co-founder Chris Larsen, who has provided financial support to environmental campaigns criticizing BTC’s proof-of-work mining.

Responding to Rochard’s remarks, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, countered via X: “Unless you’re selecting to disregard the core tenants of the POTUS campaign (which aggressively supports American corporations and technologies), our efforts are literally INCREASING the likelihood of a crypto strategic reserve (which incorporates Bitcoin) happening.”

The exchange intensified when Rochard questioned Garlinghouse’s personal investment in XRP, suggesting a possible conflict of interest in his advocacy efforts. “Brad, have you ever ever actually bought XRP? Or simply sold? Yes/no, don’t must know the way much but curious because you’re asking the federal government to purchase XRP.”

While Garlinghouse went quiet on this, Rochard doubled down on his allegation that Ripple stands firmly against a BTC-focused reserve: “To all who were doubting that Ripple/XRP is lobbying against the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, here’s the proof. They wish to sabotage the SBR with ‘crypto’ distractions. There’s an infinite variety of altcoins which can be ‘Made within the USA,’ anyone can do it, nothing strategic about it.”

Rochard also shared a video clip wherein Garlinghouse endorses a broad-based crypto reserve relatively than a strictly BTC-only approach: “Right from the horse’s mouth: Ripple/XRP is against a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, they desire a ‘Diversified Crypto Reserve’ as an alternative. That is what they’re pushing behind closed doors in DC, and waving $hundreds of thousands at politicians to make it occur.”

Further, Rochard supported his claims by referencing a CNBC article titled “Ripple’s Anti-Bitcoin Campaign To Promote CBDCs,” which details Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s financial backing of Greenpeace USA’s “Change the Code” campaign. This initiative, launched in March 2022 with a $5 million contribution from Larsen, aimed to switch BTC’s proof-of-work protocol under the guise of reducing its environmental impact.

Ryan Selkis, founding father of the cryptocurrency research firm Messari, aligned with Rochard’s perspective, stating that Ripple’s lobbying efforts to incorporate XRP in a crypto strategic reserve are misguided: “Brad’s answer is illuminating. Ripple is probably going lobbying to make XRP a part of the ‘crypto strategic reserve’ when in point of fact only Bitcoin (as an energy-adjacent commodity) is sensible in any form of reserve like this. I’ve warned the Trump admin about Ripple for months. Toxic.”

At press time, BTC traded at $105,012.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com