Messari’s Ryan Selkis takes a jab at the XRP and Cardano communities.
Despite being among the oldest and most prominent Layer 1 blockchains by several metrics, the XRP Ledger and Cardano are often regarded with disdain in the crypto community, with critics often questioning their use cases.
One of the loudest voices in this campaign against these leading Layer 1 chains in recent months has been Messari co-founder Ryan Selkis. Over the past two days, the controversial crypto figure has reignited hostilities with the communities behind these blockchains with a fresh tirade.
No Users?
Ryan Selkis has again taken aim at the XRP and Cardano communities. In an X post on Saturday, December 14, Selkis dismissed the XRP and Cardano communities as loud and worthless “bot groups on X.” He suggested that both blockchains lacked products and users.
The XRP and ADA “communities” are the loudest and least valuable bot groups on X. Ship something, and then I’ll respond.
I have no animosity towards people that make money. But where are the users.
You can’t gaslight me, idiots, I’ve been around too long and dgaf about mobs.
— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) 🇺🇸 (@twobitidiot) December 14, 2024
The recent tirade likely follows the backlash the former crypto executive faced after a virulent attack on Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty and the XRP community on the same day.
In an X post filled with references from the 1994 crime thriller “Pulp Fiction,” Selkis attempted to dispel any narrative that Ripple had any strong ties to the incoming Donald Trump administration in response to a picture of Alderoty with Vivek Ramaswamy. He further slammed XRP as “a piece of shit” while dubbing Ripple “the drowning victim of crypto.”
The weekend rants are the latest in a growing list of outbursts from the Messari co-founder against XRP and Cardano.
No Love Lost
There is no love lost between Selkis and the XRP and Cardano communities.
The Messari co-founder has long labeled XRP as centralized, and in several posts over the past month, he has maintained that the only purpose of XRP was to enrich insiders, namely Ripple executives.
The controversial former crypto executive has increasingly voiced this view, citing perceived risks to crypto from the association of Ripple with the Trump administration.
This is so disingenuous.
If crypto is going to succeed without being a millstone around the GOP’s neck, someone is going to have to call out bullshit for the 47 team.
XRP was a token that enriched insiders and has no functional purpose.
A memecoin.pic.twitter.com/6Yy3hunnze
— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) 🇺🇸 (@twobitidiot) November 21, 2024
As for Cardano, Selkis has been at war with the community since Messari failed to mention the blockchain in its 200-page “CRYPTO THESES 2024” report. The then-Messari CEO argued that the network did not meet the report’s economic activity benchmark.
It’s simple math. I find block space to be a commodity product and only covered the top ecosystems by economic activity. I omitted a TON of projects because the only chapter on Layer1s was 15 pages of a ~200 page report.
Our team otherwise does excellent research on Cardano.
— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) 🇺🇸 (@twobitidiot) December 19, 2023
Unsurprisingly, Selkis’ views continue to receive pushback from the XRP and Cardano faithful.
His most recent scathing commentary on X has been rebuffed with a community note showing that just two days prior, on December 12, Cardano recorded over 280,000 transactions, representing 20% to 60% of the transactions processed by Ethereum and Bitcoin while boasting only 2% to 8% of their market cap.
