At the grand spectacle known as XRP Apex 2025, where the air was thick with the scent of ambition and a hint of desperation, Ripple’s top brass found themselves in a delightful pickle over the ever-controversial memecoins. On one side, we had Ripple President Monica Long, who, with the enthusiasm of a cat spotting a laser pointer, saw the bright side of these meme tokens. On the other, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who looked at them as one might regard a particularly stubborn piece of gum stuck to the shoe of progress.
When the question of whether memecoins were underrated or overrated was tossed into the air like a poorly thrown frisbee, Monica didn’t flinch:
“I would say underrated in so much as… there are a lot of meme coins that are outright scams… in other cases, some have kind of miraculously become real functioning markets.”
She pointed out that despite the chaos and the occasional whiff of fraud, memecoins have been like that one friend who shows up uninvited but somehow brings the best snacks. They’ve ushered in new users, developers, and funding, all while helping to build the very infrastructure of wallets and blockchains.
“Memecoins really drove a lot of the ecosystem buildout… there’s lasting impact from memecoins,” she declared, drawing a parallel to Ethereum’s 2017 ICO frenzy, which was like a party that got wildly out of hand but somehow ended with everyone having a good time.
But Brad, ever the pragmatist, was less than convinced.
“I think memecoins are generally, maybe grossly, overrated. I see them as just not sustainable.”
He acknowledged the frenzy they create and the money they move, but emphasized that Ripple’s strategy has always been about building something that doesn’t just float away like a balloon at a child’s birthday party.
“One of the things that Ripple has done well and many in the XRP community have done well is think about it in long arcs of time… We’re trying to build real products for real customers.”
Still, even the most steadfast of skeptics can have a change of heart. Garlinghouse admitted he had misjudged one memecoin: Dogecoin.
“I used to really speak not so kindly towards Dogecoin… I felt that it didn’t reflect well on our industry… But where I agree with Monica — and I think I got wrong — is Elon Musk willed Dogecoin into so much liquidity that like it’s not going away.”
He added, “It is both the chaos and the brilliance,” when asked which crypto meme best captures the industry’s wild nature, as if he were describing a particularly rambunctious toddler.
In a moment that had the crowd buzzing like a beehive in spring, Garlinghouse joked about finally succumbing to the meme madness himself.
“If I did buy one, I’d buy the ‘All the Money XRP’ memecoin,” he said, flashing a grin that could light up a dark room.
To which Monica quickly replied: “Now you have to. Well, now you have a homework assignment.”
Even the mere mention of this fictional XRP-themed memecoin sent a ripple (pun absolutely intended) through the crowd, likely triggering a flurry of speculative Google searches that would make even the most seasoned SEO expert raise an eyebrow.
Chaos or Catalyst? Memecoins Keep Dividing the Crypto World
What made this moment more than just a delightful romp through the absurd was how clearly it showcased the divide among even the top names in crypto when it comes to memecoins.
Monica Long sees them as an unexpected but powerful way to usher people into the wild world of Web3, helping to grow the ecosystem in the process. But Brad Garlinghouse, ever the cautious captain of this ship, believes memecoins can distract from real innovation and make the whole industry look like a circus act to critics like Senator Elizabeth Warren.
“It just reflects badly on those of us in the industry trying to build real products… and then you have elected leaders like Elizabeth Warren who focus on these negative use cases,” Garlinghouse lamented, as if he were a parent trying to explain to a child why they can’t have ice cream for breakfast.
But as both agreed, Dogecoin, once dismissed as a mere joke, now boasts deep liquidity and global recognition. As memecoins like Pepe, Bonk, and Shiba Inu continue to trend on crypto Twitter, the question isn’t whether memecoins are here to stay; it’s what kind of impact they’ll leave behind, like a particularly messy party that no one wants to clean up.
Read More
2025-06-12 11:02