TLDR

  • Ripple’s top executives noted that the firm encountered strong pushback in its formative years.
  • Brad Garlinghouse mentioned that several key influential individuals saw XRP technology as a potential threat.
  • Monica Long commented that the negative reaction to Ripple frequently seemed exceptionally intense and difficult to account for.
  • Newly revealed documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files made mentions of Ripple and XRP during their initial stages of development.
  • These documents indicated that specific people advised others to avoid putting money into Ripple and Stellar.

Ripple’s executives talked about past critiques at a public gathering in Australia. They noted that certain influential figures pushed back against the company’s early expansion, and they connected this resistance to details uncovered in the Jeffrey Epstein files.

At XRP Australia 2026, [Garlinghouse] and President Monica Long discussed the early opposition to the company. They linked that resistance to references in recently released Epstein documents, stating that the disclosures supported earlier suspicions raised by co-founder Chris Larsen.

Early Hostility and Internal Suspicions

Garlinghouse and Long described the company’s early years as challenging and deeply contentious. Long said she handled communications during that period and noticed hostility that felt out of proportion. She stated: “The backlash often felt unusually intense and hard to explain.”

Garlinghouse shared that Chris Larsen believed specific influential figures were against Ripple’s growth. He noted that Larsen frequently mentioned Joichi Ito, the former director of the MIT Media Lab. Garlinghouse acknowledged that he once thought those concerns were conspiracy theories, but subsequent events shifted his view.

He explained that [Epstein] had ties to the MIT Media Lab’s ecosystem. He also noted that recent disclosures from the Epstein files reinforced Larsen’s earlier assertions, adding that these documents provided context for past frictions.

Epstein Files and References to XRP

The publicly released Epstein files contained references to Ripple and XRP during their early development phases. One document revealed that an unknown individual told Jeffrey Epstein about Jed McCaleb’s secret Bitcoin-related project, which later evolved into the XRP Ledger.

Another document revealed that Austin Hill advised Joichi Ito and Epstein to avoid investing in Ripple and Stellar, describing both projects as possible threats to the industry. The files also indicated that Epstein asked about Gary Gensler prior to Gensler’s time as SEC chair.

Gensler later led the SEC for most of the Ripple lawsuit, which ran from early 2021 to early 2025. During the case, critics challenged the agency’s enforcement approach. Judge Sarah Netburn stated that the SEC had not demonstrated “faithful allegiance to the law” in certain aspects of the proceedings.

XRP Technology and Institutional Concerns

Garlinghouse noted that blockchain payment infrastructure posed a challenge to traditional financial systems. He explained that the company built its platform around the XRP Ledger, adding that some institutions probably saw the technology as being well ahead of its era.

Long mentioned that Ripple focused on executing its plans despite outside criticism. Garlinghouse added that the company stayed dedicated to creating global payment solutions, with the goal of offering faster and more cost-effective settlement services.

Ripple recently announced that Ripple Payments has handled over $100 billion in transactions. The company noted it operates in more than 60 markets and that its platform now offers managed custody and unified collections services.