Why Cardano Founder Insists XRP Lost Big in the Wyoming Stablecoin Saga

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes XRP suffered a heavy loss in the Wyoming stablecoin saga.

Over the past few weeks, the Wyoming Stable Token (WST) Project has been a hot-button topic for Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.

The crypto founder, whose blockchain failed to make the cut for the project, has argued that the selection process for the project to usher in a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by the pro-crypto state was unfair and biased.

As Hoskinson sets his eyes on war with the commission in charge of the WST blockchain selection process, he seeks allies in his newly found comrades, the ‘XRP army,’ arguing that Cardano was not the only loser in the selection process. The Cardano founder has recently doubled down on this stance.

A Liquidity Blow to XRP?

Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson asserted that XRP lost big due to the allegedly biased WST project blockchain selection process. The Cardano founder expressed this view on Wednesday, December 11, in response to statements from prominent crypto influencer Ben “Bitboy” Armstrong.

How much have you been hit in the head? XRP was a huge loser in this biased process. They had an alternative system to Circle who was the winner. Had they been eligible to bid, the state of Wyoming would be issuing millions of dollars of tokens on RLUSD infrastructure, thereby…

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) December 11, 2024

influencer contended that the XRP army did not have to bother about the outcome of the WST project after news broke that Ripple, the primary backer of the XRP project, had secured the approval of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to launch its RLUSD stablecoin. But Hoskinson not so politely begged to differ.

“How much have you been hit in the head? XRP was a huge loser in this biased process,” the crypto founder retorted in response to Bitboy.

Hoskinson shared this view, arguing that the WST project would have provided a significant liquidity boost to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and further showcased the capabilities of Ripple’s RLUSD rails.

The Cardano founder explained that Ripple had developed a system that served as an alternative to Circle’s, but Circle’s project ultimately emerged as the chosen option.

He noted that if Ripple had been allowed to participate in the bidding process, Wyoming could have issued millions of dollars in tokens using the RLUSD infrastructure. This, he suggested, would have boosted liquidity on several major exchanges that were missed out on.

A Big Conspiracy?

In Hoskinson’s telling, the exclusion of crypto projects like Cardano, XRP, and Bitcoin from the WST initiative results from a conspiracy between leading Ethereum developer Consensys, stablecoin issuer Circle, and leading asset manager BlackRock.

This view comes as the Cardano founder claims that the selection of the project’s blockchains was done by a small group comprising Consensys and Circle ex-employees. As for BlackRock’s involvement, many have long seen the investment banking giant as a backer of Circle due to partnerships dating back to 2022.

According to Cardano’s Hoskinson, the WST project, first conceived in 2023, was initially billed as a multichain project to rival solutions from Circle and Tether. However, he claims things changed with Anthony Apollo’s involvement in the project.

Anthony Apollo is the executive director of the commission spearheading the WST project. Interestingly, Apollo has a history with Consensys, having spent nearly a year and a half leading various departments at the firm.

According to Hoskinson, Apollo waved off the WST project’s multichain intent in favor of an Ethereum-focused direction. He claims that to achieve this, the director ushered in opaque blockchain evaluation processes instead of allowing each project to build prototypes to demonstrate how they could meet the project’s needs as initially agreed.

Per now inaccessible documents shared by Mysten Labs co-founder Evan Cheng, the shortlisted blockchains included Solana, Avalanche, Sui, Stellar, and Ethereum and its Layer 2 chains like Optimism, Base, and Polygon.

Notice how @SuiNetwork is always the choice among the young chains

Here are the Wyoming Stable Token candidateshttps://t.co/oB4zvzkqDj…
https://t.co/U46YfuL9lg… pic.twitter.com/vcikjU6zaJ

— evan.sui (@EvanWeb3) November 23, 2024

A major battering ram in Hoskinson’s fight against the WST project’s blockchain selection process is the selection of Stellar over the XRPL. While both projects are built with remittances and payments in mind, the XRPL is widely seen as the more successful project, boasting a market cap of nearly $140 billion and averaging tens of billions in daily trading volumes.

For context, Stellar only has a market capitalization of about $13 billion with about $1 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

“So let me get this straight. Apparently, Stellar can do stuff that Ripple can’t do according to the scoring criteria,” Hoskinson lamented in a broadcast in November 2024.

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