XRP Proponent Pushes Back Against Bitcoin Maximalists' Centralization Claims

Tensions between the Bitcoin and XRP communities have skyrocketed recently following reports that the U.S. government is preparing to establish a national digital asset reserve.

Tensions between Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP communities have escalated following reports that the U.S. government is preparing to establish a national digital asset reserve.

While Ripple is pushing for XRP and other crypto assets to be included in the reserve, some Bitcoin proponents have accused the company of advocating against BTC.

In response, these proponents have launched a FUD campaign, spreading negative narratives about XRP and Ripple.

For example, Bitcoin maxi Pierre Rochard of Riot Platforms has described XRP as a threat to the national digital asset reserve initiative. He has also criticized Ripple for undermining Bitcoin's decentralization ethos through its control over XRP, especially its large XRP holdings.

According to the latest quarterly report, Ripple remains the largest holder of XRP, with a reported holding of over 42 billion XRP.

However, crypto enthusiast Lester Pyle has pushed back against this narrative, arguing that if Bitcoin proponents are concerned about Ripple's control over XRP, they should also be concerned about the potential centralization risk associated with BTC due to its several large holders.

In a recent tweet, Lester highlighted the attention given to BlackRock, MicroStrategy, Bitcoin pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto, and other Bitcoin whales. It is common knowledge that these entities hold large amounts of Bitcoin.

While MicroStrategy's holdings are part of its diversification strategy for its corporate treasury, with 471,107 BTC, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF holds 582,873.7 BTC.

Additionally, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, owns 1.1 million BTC. In addition to the aforementioned entities, other whales also have large amounts of BTC across different blockchain wallets. Critics view this as contributing to Bitcoin's potential centralization risk.

However, Bitcoin proponents often counter that the percentage of BTC supply that these individual entities own is less than 5% of Bitcon's total supply. This contrasts steeply with Ripple's nearly 50% supply control over XRP's max cap.

Despite this, Lester has declared his support for large Bitcoin and XRP holders, emphasizing that they help to promote both ecosystems rather than harm them.

Furthermore, the user dismissed other concerns about Ripple's XRP holdings as FUD, urging people to stop spreading negative narratives about the third-biggest cryptocurrency.