Charles Hoskinson, the controversial founder of Cardano and the chief executive officer of Input Output, has rejected allegations that he was involved in a scheme to crack down on the XRP token via regulation by enforcement.
Hoskinson has recalled his own contentious history with the Ethereum community to stress just how ridiculous such accusations are.
Hoskinson and Ripple recently made strides to mend their relationship, but the latest interaction proves that the infamous "ETHgate" conspiracy is pretty much alive and well among some conspiratorial minds of the XRP community.
The latest clash
A user revelry accused Hoskinson of being involved in "#ETHgate".
The somehow ridiculous term, which refers to the famous Watergate scandal, refers to a popular conspiracy theory within the XRP ecosystem. Some fervent fans are convinced that there was some sort of a deliberate plan concocted by the Ethereum camp to hurt XRP with the infamous lawsuit against Ripple.
Hoskinson, however, has also had a rocky past with Ethereum. "I was pushed out of Ethereum in June of 2014 and since then they have spent 12 years shitting on me including nasty books," Hoskinson fired back. "But then I decided to years later to coordinate with them to help Ethereum attack XRP?"
Hence, his involvement is highly unlikely despite years of accusations.
The origins of "ETHgate"
After the SEC decided to sue Ripple Labs in late 2020 over alleged unregistered securities offerings, XRP fans started arguing that that Ethereum insiders bribed or unduly influenced SEC officials to grant Ethereum a regulatory "free pass" while simultaneously orchestrating a targeted legal attack on Ripple.
Hoskinson, despite being an original co-founder of Ethereum before his messy departure, consistently pushed back against this narrative.
He had repeatedly argued that there is absolutely no hard evidence of bribery or a coordinated attack by Ethereum insiders.
The SEC’s actions were simply flawed and incompetent, but not biased.
Hoskinson's refusal to validate the ETHgate conspiracy theory infuriated the highly vocal "XRP Army."
The tension peaked between 2022 and 2023. After months of severe personal attacks and accusations, Hoskinson famously lost his patience.
He ended up labeling the XRP community as toxic and petty, effectively burning the bridge. He also said longer speak about XRP, Ripple, or the SEC lawsuit.
The relationship between Cardano and Ripple eventually thawed (at least, at the executive level).
Hoskinson extended an olive branch to the XRP community in 2024. After this, he had some high-level discussions with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Ripple CTO David Schwartz.
However, the recent social media flare-up shows that the XRP community might not be ready to bury the hatchet.
Dan Burgin
