A simmering dispute between Ripple Labs chief executive Brad Garlinghouse and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) burst into the open on Monday, May 19, after the senator’s staff cancelled a meeting with the fintech executive and declined to offer a new date.
Ripple CEO Starts Public Dispute
Garlinghouse, already in Washington to lobby for the pending GENIUS Act on stablecoins and for broader market-structure reform, took the unusual step of airing the dispute on X. “Heading to DC to champion sensible pro-crypto legislation … That said, @SenLummis, as Chair of the Digital Assets Subcommittee, cancelled a meeting with me (and won’t reschedule),” he wrote, before challenging the senator to debate him “anytime” in an X Space or on stage at upcoming industry conferences.
“As a leader in Congress and Senator from one of the most crypto-friendly states (WY), I hope you will reconsider and be a leader for ALL of crypto. I invite you to join me on an X Space anytime (or a live convo onstage at one of the many events we cross paths at) to talk about how to make the US the crypto capital of the world, as is the goal of the Trump Administration. I will continue to do everything possible to support that goal,” Garlinghouse wrote via X.
Senator Lummis has not commented publicly on the cancellation, but her office confirmed she is concentrating this week on floor action related to the stable-coin bill, which cleared a 65-32 procedural vote in the Senate on Tuesday morning and will now face a lengthy amendment process.
The Wyoming Republican—long celebrated by Bitcoin advocates—was tapped in January to chair the Banking Committee’s new Subcommittee on Digital Assets, a post that gives her first crack at shaping federal crypto legislation. At the time of her appointment she declared that “digital assets are the future” and pressed colleagues to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Garlinghouse’s public rebuke exposed a deepening philosophical divide: the Ripple chief argues that US policy must be “multichain,” whereas Lummis has positioned herself as the Senate’s fiercest pro-Bitcoin voice.
Bitcoin Maximalists Cheer, Ripple Allies Bristle
The senator’s supporters inside the Bitcoin community applauded the snub. Troy Cross of the Bitcoin Policy Institute thanked Lummis: “Just when you thought Lummis couldn’t be a better Bitcoiner. Sen Lummis for keeping the scammers at bay.”
Pierre Rochard, vice-president of research at Riot Platforms, derided Garlinghouse on X, claiming he had “ruined [his] reputation and lost all credibility by pushing for CBDCs and against Bitcoin,” while market commentator Joe Consorti said the Ripple chief’s “lifetime of bashing Bitcoin” had left him with “zero credibility.”
XRP partisans fired back. Influential content creator Crypto Eri told her followers that the senator’s “Bitcoin-maxi moves hurt the entire ecosystem.” Australian attorney Bill Morgan reposted Garlinghouse’s thread with the warning that Lummis “is a champion of Bitcoin exceptionalism, not a level playing field.” Fellow lawyer Fred Rispoli dismissed the cancellation as staff-level gamesmanship, writing, “A staffer cancelled it for her … a lobbyist told the staffer to cancel it.”
At press time, XRP traded at $2.39.
