Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has delivered a surprisingly strong endorsement of XRP. He has praised the asset as a superior “Web2.5” alternative to dominant centralized stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC.
Praising the permissionless standard
Hoskinson expressed a clear preference for XRP based on its underlying open ecosystem.
He categorized XRP as a “Web2.5 product” he argued it vastly outshines the centralized giants of the stablecoin market.
“I believe in open standards, open protocols, and open ecosystems,” Hoskinson stated. “That’s why I like XRP as a Web2.5 company so much more than Tether or Circle, because I don’t have to ask permission from Ripple to go and use XRPL.”
“I think XRP as a Web2.5 product is better than Tether or Circle. I like it a lot more,” he added.
Centralized stablecoin issuers have the ability to freeze funds, blacklist addresses, and gatekeep access to their platforms, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) remains an open-source protocol that anyone can build on without seeking approval from Ripple.
The XRP Army
Hoskinson’s praise comes as a shock to many in the cryptocurrency community, given his notoriously rocky and often hostile relationship with the broader XRP ecosystem.
For years, the Cardano founder has been a frequent target of the XRP community regarding the “ETHgate” conspiracy theory, which alleges that Ethereum founders unfairly influenced the SEC to target Ripple.
Hoskinson has repeatedly and vehemently denied these claims. In mid-May, he voiced his frustration on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out the logical flaws in the accusations: “I was pushed out of Ethereum in June of 2014, and since then they have spent 12 years shitting on me, including nasty books, but then I decided to years later to coordinate with them to help Ethereum attack XRP?”
The decentralization debate
Hoskinson argued that the XRP ecosystem relies too heavily on Ripple’s corporate leadership. “If XRP is so centralized that criticism of a single person’s conduct and lobbying means the ecosystem is shut off, then they aren’t decentralized,” he wrote, directly contrasting it with his own project. “I know it’s hard to understand coming from the XRP side, but Cardano != Charles. We have this thing called decentralization, and it means that choosing Cardano doesn’t require liking, agreeing, or endorsing me.”
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