Ripple Labs Accused of Attempting to Undermine the Creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the United States

Ripple Labs has been accused of attempting to undermine the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the United States. In a recent social media post, Pierre Rochard, Vice President of Research at Riot Platforms, made the claims.

Vice President of Research at Riot Platforms has accused Ripple Labs of attempting to undermine the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) in the United States. In a recent social media post, Pierre Rochard made the claims, stating that the company has spent vast resources to influence political decision-makers in a bid to stop the initiative.

As highlighted by Rochard, Ripple is against the SBR to protect its vested interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that run on Ripple’s infrastructure. He stated that the company has been working against promoting Bitcoin as a reserve asset, which many believe could strengthen the U.S. economy.

Rochard went on to claim that Ripple is bribing policymakers in the United States, pointing out that the company has spent millions of dollars on lobbying. He also accused the network of targeting Bitcoin mining during the Biden administration, stating that these had been designed to protect its marketing narrative and promote CBDCs.

The company has been highly engaged in the creation of CBDCs. In May 2023, the company introduced a solution for government CBDC and stablecoin issuance. There are also claims that Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, donated more than $11 million to political action committees (PACs) backing Kamala Harris, who was earlier an advocate of CBDC.

On the other hand, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has refuted the claims, stating that the company’s lobbying efforts only promote policies on digital assets, including Bitcoin. He stressed that Ripple’s work corresponds with the goals of promoting American technologies, thus contributing to forming a strategic crypto reserve.

“Unless you are choosing to ignore the core tenants of the POTUS campaign (which aggressively supports American companies and technologies), our efforts are actually INCREASING the likelihood of a crypto strategic reserve (which includes bitcoin) happening,” Garlinghouse said in a recent tweet.

Rochard’s comments follow rumors that the US government might be planning to create a diversified digital asset reserve. Some coins mentioned as possible constituents of such a reserve include Ripple’s XRP, Solana (SOL), and USD Coin (USDC). President Donald Trump has recently issued an executive order to develop a structure for regulating digital assets, which added to this speculation.

While Rochard stressed that SBR should only be about Bitcoin, Garlinghouse pointed out that having more than one cryptocurrency would benefit due to diversification. However, critics like Rochard believe that allowing for any asset beyond Bitcoin goes against the idea of the initiative being promoted.

Some of the members of the cryptocurrency community have also taken to debating on the role that Ripple is believed to have played in the fight against the SBR. The allegations also seem to point towards increasing role of private actors in defining the legal framework of digital assets.