Ben Askren, the former UFC fighter and known Bitcoin (BTC) bull, has driven more skepticism toward XRP, the world’s third-biggest crypto asset, with a short tweet on January 28 as “I think XRP is a scam.”
I think XRP is a scam https://t.co/ye3E53dM3E — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) January 28, 2020
It has been reported that Askren’s latest cryptocurrency verdict builds on a background of previous endorsements of other cryptocurrencies. The famous former Olympic wrestler is not only bullish on Bitcoin, but also supports Charlie Lee-founded Litecoin (LTC), the seventh biggest cryptocurrency by market cap as of press time.
In January 2019, Askren was purportedly sponsored by the Litecoin Foundation as the mixed martial arts fighter for UFC 235 event. Subsequently, the UFC fighter appeared on his Instagram wearing a Litecoin-branded t-shirt.
Askren has also promoted Bitcoin on his Twitter in October 2019.
He said:
“Just bought more BTC using @eToro was really easy, now all of you twitter geniuses can tell me Crypto is a scam while my assets go up!”
As Askren has been known as a shill for BTC and LTC for a while, a user on Twitter asked him a question:
“The fact @Benaskren is staying quiet on XRP tells me its going to take it a long time if ever to moon.”
However, Askren’s verdict did not take long, and a part of the crypto community on Twitter expressed some negative stance toward XRP, while the tweet has amassed over 2,000 likes as of press time.
<img width="1200" height="900" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.cryptonewspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/what-is-ripple-1000x600-1200x900-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10022 lazyload" />
Moreover, Askren’s statement about XRP comes amid an already worsened situation around the coin as XRP dropped over 40% from $0.364 in 2019 to $0.183 in December, marking a two-year low. The situation has been exacerbated by rising concerns over the unclear regulatory status of XRP’s issuing company, Ripple, which faces a class-action lawsuit alleging that it held an unregistered sale of securities.
Despite all this, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, has recently hinted at an initial public offering for Ripple, which undoubtedly has some implications for the fate of altcoin.
Thus, XRP is trading at $0.238, up over 1% over the past 24 hours, following a major green trend on crypto markets.
Source: twitter.com | cointelegraph.com