I think Circle is going to go bankrupt very soon and they know it, so they are mad at bitcoin and now they are shitting on it. They keep losing customers because they keep annoying them by blocking their money and so on. I understand that they are trying to be a company that complies with strict regulations but it seems people that want to use bitcoin want to avoid all of that.
I think you have a point there, sudden outburst like that are meant to tag a dog a bad name, just so it would be hung. He could not have ventured into a bitcoin company without doing due diligence or was it for the fun of it? So it is questionable why the sudden turn? At any rate, what gives any currency value is people's willingness to accept it as means of payment and since bitcoin is already having such a huge community, I doubt the absent of one person would in any way mean end of the road for bitcoin.