During a Sunday ask-me-anything (AMA) session on YouTube, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson downplayed the antitrust concerns surrounding Ripple's potential acquisition of Circle.

Hoskinson spoke favorably of a potential deal, arguing that it would ultimately make the crypto space better.

"I think it would make the space better. There's like this Coinbase-a16z-Circle mafia where they've built an ecosystem, and it's self-serving in that ecosystem, and if you are outside of it, you get completely blacklisted, and it's hard to get listed, it's hard to get liquidity, and it's hard to get a stablecoin," he said.

Ripple and XRP could break apart the existing monopoly and create more diversity, according to Hoskinson.

"And I think they'll be a better custodian…than some of the people, especially on the circle side," Hoskinson added.

Bloomberg first reported in late April that Circle rejected a $5 billion acquisition offer from Ripple because it was deemed to be too low.

Hoskinson says that he has heard rumors that Ripple is willing to pay as much as $11 billion to acquire Circle.

According to Fortune, Ripple and Coinbase are the current top contenders for acquiring Circle, with the latter seemingly having the upper hand due to its extensive ties to the company.

Circle filed for an IPO in early April, and it seems like the fintech company still intends to go public despite some reports of acquisition talks.

As reported by U.Today, MetaLeX Labs founder Gabriel Shapiro previously opined that Ripple buying Circle would cause a full-blown "crypto apocalypse." That said, he believes that a potential deal, if it does take place, will ultimately fail to pass the antitrust muster.