Ripple CEO Claps Back at Avalanche Founder Over April Fools' Bank Jab

What started as an April Fools' Day prank has turned into a public dispute between two of crypto's most prominent project leaders ^[1].

Avalanche founder Emin Gün Sirer posted a joke on April 1st claiming that banks actually prefer Avalanche over Ripple — a deliberate provocation aimed at XRP's famously passionate community. The jab did not go unanswered. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded by quipping that Sirer was apparently thinking about Ripple rent-free ^[1].

The XRP community then piled on, mocking Avalanche's market standing and questioning its real-world utility ^[1].

On the substance of Sirer's claim, the article suggests he overreached. While Avalanche does hold partnerships with major institutions such as J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, those collaborations have remained largely limited to testing phases. Ripple's institutional portfolio, by contrast, is considered more substantive ^[1].

Meanwhile, Michael Saylor has resurfaced his laser-eyes persona on social media in a bid to reignite Bitcoin enthusiasm, garnering over one million views. However, market sentiment remains subdued amid geopolitical tensions, stalled U.S. crypto legislation, and broader uncertainty. Strategy has nonetheless continued purchasing Bitcoin aggressively, spending more than seven billion dollars on acquisitions so far this year ^[1].