Washington’s Digital Asset Stockpile Battle Reveals a Fundamental Tension in Crypto's Transition to Mainstream Finance

The battle over America's digital asset reserve reveals a fundamental tension in crypto's transition to mainstream finance.

The US regime change has brought in a lot of crypto winners. But one stands out - Ripple. The XRP issuer has been having a fairy tale run lately.

After a successful launch of RLUSD and a 485% price surge in the last year (about 50% of this rise happened this month alone), there are now growing whispers about XRP’s potential inclusion in America's strategic crypto reserve.

And this last one has gotten crypto Twitter talking.

In today’s Token Dispatch we look at:

Washington debate on which digital assets should be included in the stockpile

CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s close proximity to Trump administration

What’s irking Bitcoin maximalists

Massive XRP sell-offs by the insiders at Ripple

Less than 24 hours ago, Ripple Labs chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said in an X Spaces discussion that he was hopeful that the potential next head of the US Securities and Commissions Exchange (SEC) will dismiss civil suits against crypto firm.

Amid this victory lap, Ripple is eyeing a bigger gameplay.

While Washington is busy debating which digital assets should be included in the government's stockpile, Ripple is looking to grab a share of the pie.

This has got some of the Bitcoin maximalists charged up at the XRP advocates.

Some for rightly concerning reasons, while some not so logically based.

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What’s Cooking?

It all started with XRP’s rise coinciding with Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse's growing proximity with Donald Trump.

The Bitcoin maximalists army didn’t like the game Garlinghouse was playing to get a seat for XRP in the government’s digital asset stockpile.

They charged at Ripple - and in some cases at Garlinghouse, too.

Vice-president of Research at Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms accused Ripple of “aggressively lobbying” against the strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Even went on to spell-check Garlinghouse when he entered the conversation.

While Rochard’s interest in Bitcoin is obvious, he is not wrong about throwing around “$ millions at politicians”.

Ripple, along with Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, led a $300 million super PAC campaign.

Then, the $5 million contribution to Trump's inauguration fund.

Others joined the party.

"Ripple is actively spending millions of dollars trying to undermine a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the United States of America. This is not just an attack on Bitcoin, but on principles of transparency," Bitcoin maximalist Jack Mallers of Zap said in a video posted on X.

Few others showed concerns around insider movement and massive XRP token sell-offs by insiders.

Less than two weeks ago, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen moved $60.5 million worth of XRP to unknown wallets, while another whale transferred over 31 million XRP to Coinbase.

The timing is particularly notable - just days before Trump's inauguration and amid heated debates about which cryptocurrencies should be considered for the national digital asset stockpile.

What do these transfers mean? Centralisation concerns.

The large insider movements highlight Bitcoin advocates' core argument: While Bitcoin's creator remains anonymous and uninvolved, XRP's close ties to Ripple and its executives' significant holdings present potential risks for a national strategic reserve.

The stark contrast between both …

Bitcoin: No central authority, no insider selling

XRP: $60.5 million moved by co-founder amid key policy discussions

CFTC relationship: Kalshi got approval, Ripple settled

Corporate influence: Growing concerns about concentration

TL;DR - Bitcoin advocates on Twitter allege one thing, Ripple lobbied Trump’s team to remove the word ‘Bitcoin’ from his crypto executive order.

Ripple’s Response

CEO Garlinghouse wanted the ecosystem to “work together” instead of “tearing “each other down”. Called maximalism “the enemy of crypto progress”.

Allegations of political lobbying? Completely skirted the topic.

The Bitcoin troop charged back at him.

Riot Platforms’ Rochard said “reserves and stockpiles should be strategic (and) based on the needs of the nation aligning with specific properties of assets.”

Blockstream’s Samson Mow wasn’t buying any of Garlinghouse’s call for brotherhood.

“We have no goals in common because our goal isn’t to fleece retail investors with blockchain mysticism,” Mow replied to Garlinghouse’s post.

It’s understandable for Bitcoin maximalists having vested interests to bat for a 100% Bitcoin-only stockpile. But not all are against the idea of having a mix of cryptos.

Investor and Bitcoin maxi Fred Krueger is one of