He didn’t explain his criteria, but the implication is clear: both men have shown strong leadership in tough legal environments and have pushed for more clarity in crypto regulation.
That legal fight helped solidify their alliance, and it’s continued since. Garlinghouse, in turn, publicly backed Deaton’s Senate run against Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Their companies also contributed to US President Donald Trump’s recent campaign, a sign of their growing involvement in Washington.
In a follow-up post, Deaton added a third name to his shortlist: Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood. He admitted that Tenev should have been included from the start.
That addition came after a crypto user named Dave criticized Deaton’s original pick. According to Dave, Ripple hasn’t delivered a strong product-market fit and lacks the clear direction needed to compete with top fintech players.
Dave claimed that although Ripple has promising pieces, it hasn’t yet connected them. His remarks repeated old doubts regarding Ripple’s business model, even as the company keeps moving ahead with its payment services.
The market size for that is approximately $685 billion, and Ripple believes this is a big chance for it to move further into international payments.
Featured image from Quartr, chart from TradingView
