From Rivals to Friends: Cardano Founder Sheds Light on Relationship with Ripple

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson reveals a significant shift in his relationship with former competitors, including Ripple.

Hoskinson featured in a recent interview on the Wolf of All Streets podcast, where he discussed various crypto-related topics, ranging from Cardano’s growth to his engagement with former competitors like Ripple.

Hoskinson Now Friends with Ripple

The Cardano founder revealed that he is now friends with many crypto stakeholders he previously considered competitors. Interestingly, Hoskinson mentioned that he is in direct communication with Ripple and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.

Recall that Hoskinson previously had a hostile relationship with Ripple and the broader XRP community due to controversies surrounding the ETHGate allegations. The allegation suggests that the Ethereum team established relationships with certain SEC officials to give ETH an edge over rival projects like XRP.

Some XRP enthusiasts highlighted this relationship as the reason the SEC sued Ripple in December 2020. Hoskinson’s denial of these allegations led to a war of words between the Cardano and XRP communities.

However, Hoskinson made a remarkable move to end the dispute by apologizing to XRP enthusiasts and proposing a partnership between Cardano and Ripple. Ever since, he has been in communication with Ripple execs like Garlinghouse and CTO David Schwartz.

His continued communication with Garlinghouse could create an avenue for a partnership between Cardano and Ripple.

Hoskinson Seeks RLUSD Launch on Cardano

In a separate interview with David Gokhshtein, host of the Gokhshtein Podcast, Hoskinson said he is currently in discussions with Ripple to integrate its stablecoin (RLUSD) onto Cardano’s blockchain. This is not the first time that Hoskinson has revealed interest in RLUSD.

The stablecoin debuted on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum in December 2024. It currently has a market cap of $193.73 million.

Notably, Ripple plans to expand RLUSD’s availability to other top blockchains. With Hoskinson currently discussing the launch of RLUSD on Cardano with Ripple, the company might debut the stablecoin on the network soon.

Cardano Growth

Meanwhile, Hoskinson shed light on Cardano’s rapid growth, emphasizing that the total value locked (TVL) on the blockchain has been increasing by 100% yearly.

Additionally, he mentioned that the number of dApps and transaction volume also experienced significant upticks year over year (YoY).

Further, he said Cardano has been operating 24/7 for seven years with zero downtime, which showcases its stability, robustness, and reliability.