XRP, the official crypto of Ripple—and Gensler’s favorite—recently broke through the $1 mark for the first time since 2021. 

The rally, which is more than double in just a week, comes after news of a rumored meeting between Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President-elect Donald Trump came out of nowhere.

It all started when Garlinghouse liked a social post that suggested he had met with Trump after the election. 

Now, to be clear, Garlinghouse himself did not confirm or rebuff the idea. He just left it to keep floating in the wind. But his sneaky response during a Fox Business interview— saying he wouldn't "comment on too many specifics"—was all the affirmation people needed to help confirm the story. 

While some see this as a huge step, many people in the crypto community aren’t happy with it, opening critisizing Ripple Labs and its CEO. In particular, Ryan Selkis, former CEO of Messari, and Pierre Rochard, Vice President of Research at Riot Platforms, have accused Ripple of pushing an "anti-Bitcoin agenda" and advocating for the implementation of XRP and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). They're worried that Ripple might have too much sway over how crypto is regulated in the U.S.

But it's not just about Ripple. The entire crypto industry has been pouring money into politics like never before. In the 2024 election cycle, crypto-related spending has hit a whopping $135 million, which is almost half of all corporate political contributions this year. That's a huge jump from previous years and puts crypto second only to fossil fuels in total election spending since 2010.

The industry's strategy seems pretty clear: they're trying to get crypto-friendly folks elected to Congress. And it looks like it might be working. According to a tracker called Stand with Crypto, 274 pro-crypto candidates won seats in the House and 20 in the Senate this cycle. That's a lot of potential allies for the crypto industry in Washington.

A big chunk of this spending - about $131 million - came from crypto super PACs that focused on congressional races. They've been backing both Republicans and Democrats, basically anyone who seems open to supporting crypto. 

For example, they spent big to help elect Republican Bernie Moreno in Ohio, who's known for being crypto-friendly, against Democrat Sherrod Brown, who's been more skeptical of the industry.

The crypto community is also getting cozy with Trump. Some big names in the industry, like venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, have thrown their support behind him9. They've been critical of how the Biden administration has been handling crypto regulations and seem to think Trump will be better for the industry.

Speaking of regulations, that's a big part of what all this political maneuvering is about. The crypto industry is hoping to reshape how Washington deals with digital currencies. One of their main goals is to get a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair who's more crypto-friendly than the current one, Gary Gensler. Gensler has been pretty tough on crypto, and a lot of people in the industry aren't fans of his approach.

Trump has already said he plans to fire Gensler on his first day in office, which has got a lot of crypto enthusiasts excited. On top of that, 18 U.S. states have filed lawsuits against Gensler and the SEC, accusing them of overstepping their authority in regulating crypto.

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