Cardano’s Hoskinson Responds to Ripple Internship Claims

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has denied working as an intern for Ripple, rebuffing claims about his earlier involvement with the fintech firm.

In a June 23 tweet, Hoskinson warned the community to stop mistaking him for Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin who applied for an internship role with the crypto payment company.

“Why do I keep seeing people claim I worked at Ripple as an intern? I never worked for them in any capacity. You’re confusing me for Vitalik who I believe was an intern,” he tweeted.

Did Vitalik Buterin Intern at Ripple?

The mention of Vitalik in the tweet is a subtle dig at the Ethereum cofounder’s- attempt to intern at Ripple in 2013. However, Buterin failed to secure the internship role due to visa complications issues at the time.

Despite Buerin’s earlier amorous advances toward Ripple, he has consistently criticized XRP. In 2020, he described XRP as a shitcoin. Buterin later said the crypto asset lost its right to protection from the industry because its community tried to throw Ethereum under the bus of being “China-controlled.”

Additionally, Buterin stated that Ripple’s XRP was completely centralized in a December 2022 interview with Bankless.

Hoskinson’s Relationship With Ripple’s XRP Army

While Hoskinson might not have affiliations to Ripple, his relationship with the XRP community has not been smooth, previously describing them as “toxic and petty.”

Hoskinson had drawn the ire of the XRP Army after criticizing their view of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple. While the XRP Army believes that the SEC targeted the firm due to corruption, the Cardano founder says the suit reflects the coordinated attack on the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, the Cardano founder offered to make peace with the XRP community amid the regulatory onslaught targeting the crypto space. The SEC classified ADA as a security in its lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance.

However, Hoskinson and the Cardano Foundation have vehemently rejected this classification.

Following its security labeling, ADA prices dropped significantly to as low as $0.24 on June 10. However, its price has gradually recovered and now trades at $0.288 as of press time, according to BeInCrypto data.