The official Litecoin account ignited a cross-community skirmish on X late on August 29 with a long, caustic “fun fact” that veered into an elaborate mock of XRP’s bank-rail narrative and even a jab at Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, nicknamed “Brad Garlicmouse” in the post.
The message likened the smell of comets to “the idea that tokens called XRP would be sold off to retail investors with the illusion that a digital bank drive-up tube is worth more than the money it transfers back and forth because there are only so many tokens in existence,” before concluding with a snide aside about “the president… sleeping with Brad Garlicmouse.” The post quickly ricocheted across Crypto X, drawing heavy engagement and heated replies.
As replies piled up, the Litecoin handle adopted a meta-commentary, positioning the episode as part of a broader “roast” bit across communities. “I roast Solana: We laughed, we cried, little pushback. I roast MYSELF: Funny, but true. I roast XRP: Diarrhetic vitriol for 2 full days, threats of legal action, horrible takes on market cap and sitting at a paid for seat at a crypto council as the only measuring stick for success. Sounds about right.” Later, in an apparent attempt to defuse, it wrote: “Damn. Y’all gotta stop taking X so seriously. Go eat a hot pocket and I’ll see you in the morning if I’m not fired before then.”
The XRP Community Reacts
XRP-aligned accounts responded with a mix of counter-narrative, receipts, and ridicule. One widely referenced theme was founder conduct and credibility. “Fun fact: Satoshi Lite publicly dumped all his Litecoin at the top. If your coin was worth something, why sell it all?” wrote @SamTheCarpetMan, resurfacing Charlie Lee’s December 20, 2017 post announcing he had sold his LTC holdings.
Several community figures framed the roast as a brand misstep. “Whoever the intern for this page is— not a good look,” wrote @CredibleCrypto. EGRAG Crypto delivered a pointed quip—“The word ‘lite’ suits your stance”—while @X__Anderson contrasted enterprise engagement with merch-table nostalgia: “While Ripple was meeting with banks & financial regulators all over the world to transform the financial system, Charlie Lee was in his basement printing Hodl shirts, followed by dumping his remaining Litecoin on his followers and cashing out into fiat.”
Others took aim at market-rank dynamics: “Lincoln is scared of XRP. They should be. XRP long surpassed litecon years ago and litcon will never recover,” wrote @WizardInvestor. And some simply voted with their wallets. “Just sold my ltc,” said @Xlister86; another user, @actofage28, declared: “As of today, you’re being unfollowed and the remainder of my LTC will be swiped for XRP.”
The Litecoin handle—leaning into the persona—parried much of it in-stream. When one commenter warned of potential “defamation/trade libel” exposure, the account replied: “Relax, sparky. I’m not in the digital bank tube market. Go play that crap with XLM.”
Beneath the theatrics sat a familiar philosophical split—one the Litecoin account articulated bluntly in reply to an XRP holder: “What’s to recover? XRP is nothing like litecoin in both construct and purpose. They’re literally at different ends of the spectrum. XRP wants to be the bridge between banks and Litecoin is the antithesis of that altogether.”
That line, more than the comet gag, captured what the spat was really about: divergent visions of crypto’s endgame. XRP’s community continues to press a thesis of institutional integration and cross-border settlement rails; Litecoin’s social voice cast itself as a contrarian to bank-linked architectures, more in the mold of peer-to-peer electronic cash.
The controversy also revived long-running debates around founder sales and community trust. Charlie Lee’s 2017 divestiture—framed at the time as a bid to avoid conflicts of interest—has remained a lightning rod for critics who equate it with abandonment. Meanwhile, wallets associated with the Ripple founders have been selling millions of tokens each month, a pattern renowned on-chain analyst @zachxbt highlighted again last week.
At press time, XRP traded at $2.72.
