In the latest saga of the crypto world, Caitlin Long, the esteemed founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, has ruffled more than a few feathers in the XRP community. During her fiery appearance on the “Gold Goats ‘n Guns” podcast, Long didn’t hold back in her criticism of Ripple, calling out their entire existence and the XRP Ledger like a seasoned critic at a theatrical performance.
But hold your horses, because David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ripple, wasn’t about to let these bold claims go unchecked. He swiftly made himself “available” (because who wouldn’t want to chat with the CTO of a multi-billion-dollar project, right?) to lay down the cold, hard facts about Ripple, the XRP Ledger, and the RLUSD stablecoin.
‘It’s Not Going to Take Over’
Long wasted no time questioning Ripple’s legitimacy, claiming that banks have always been suspicious of the XRP Ledger, describing it as a “centralized network.” She then went on to argue that Ripple, despite having existed for over a decade, has somehow failed to “make substantial progress.” Her conclusion? “It’s not going to take over. It’s not. If it were going to take over, it would have done so ages ago.” Talk about a bold statement-almost like declaring an underdog in a race “never going to win,” right?
And as if that wasn’t enough, Long continued to throw shade by suggesting Ripple’s shift toward the stablecoin market was an “admission” of failure. She claimed that the base layer never got the adoption it was hoping for. Ouch! Somebody get Ripple a tissue!
Her criticism didn’t stop there. She took aim at Ripple’s tokenomics, suggesting that anyone who managed to cash out big at the start couldn’t possibly be trusted. Let’s face it, she wasn’t pulling any punches. That being said, it’s a bit of a stretch to criticize Ripple for not having an ICO when, well, Ripple didn’t have an ICO. But let’s not get bogged down in the details…
As for the much-debated 100 billion XRP tokens-pre-mined by Ripple’s founders-Long highlighted how 20 billion of those tokens were given to the founders themselves. And let’s not forget the 55 billion XRPs stored away in escrow in 2017. Who knew crypto could be so… generous?
Critics have long pointed to the distribution as proof of XRP’s “centralization.” Naturally, this was a key point of contention in the infamous SEC lawsuit back in 2020. But hey, Ripple’s still standing, so maybe there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
Pushback from the XRP Community
Unsurprisingly, the XRP community wasn’t exactly thrilled with Long’s take. Ripple fans quickly came to the defense, arguing that XRP was practically worthless when it was created, and that the XRP Ledger is, in fact, decentralized. Because nothing says “decentralized” quite like a 100 billion-token allocation to a handful of folks, right?
Also, let’s not forget that RLUSD, the stablecoin in question, is issued on the XRP Ledger. And while Ethereum-based tokens dominate the supply, let’s not pretend that Ripple hasn’t had a say in the game.
“She has no clue what she is talking about, but she talks with such confidence about it.
1) Ripple never did an ICO. XRP was worth nothing when the XRP Ledger started and all 100B put into the genesis account.
2) The XRP Ledger is decentralized. Either it’s ignorance or lack of…”
– Vet (@Vet_X0) August 6, 2025
Read More
- 4 XRP Developments You Won’t Believe Happened This Week!
- How Powell Turned Bitcoin into a Rollercoaster (And made $300M Disappear Fast) 🤯💸
- BIO Token: A Most Curious Ascent! 🚀
- ETH PREDICTION. ETH cryptocurrency
- STETH PREDICTION. STETH cryptocurrency
- EUR TRY PREDICTION
- EUR HUF PREDICTION
- USD AUD PREDICTION
- EUR INR PREDICTION
- GBP MYR PREDICTION
2025-08-07 11:29