Ripple (XRP) and the Banks – Don’t mistake Decentralization with Anarchy

Ripple (XRP) During 2017 we’ve seen that the predictions were true, mass adoption of blockchain databases is ahead. For the past decade the market cap grew to the billion dollar industry that it is today and doesn’t seem to want to stop. I think that by now we can all agree to that.

Even though the idea behind Bitcoin is indeed revolutionary, concepts of a decentralized database existed prior to it. We’ve passed the age of early adoption and now we’re starting to enter the mass adoption phase. But please don’t mistake mass adoption of Bitcoin with mass adoption of blockchain technology!

There’s clearly a pattern forming in front of us. People that don’t know what the Ripple project is really about, usually don’t like it – number one excuse: It’s backed by banks. Now why do people suddenly hate banks? If you want to buy a house you’ll probably do it through your bank, even if you have enough crypto to buy it. So if a bank still serves a purpose nowadays I think that Ripple (XRP), emotion aside, does as well.

The latest boom in the crypto market is justified by the presence of the Bitcoin stigma. It’s observable today that social media is slowly turning their heads to blockchain and in some cases the adoration of bitcoin is causing frenzy. We see major TV Shows like “Mr.Robot” and “The Big Bang Theory” mentioning Bitcoin and we freak out a little inside for already being on the inside, at least we believe that we are.

There’s another stigma in the crypto world, that the banks are the enemy. That people in dark rooms are making economically devastating decisions, and in each bank there’s a greedy crook. Maybe that’s true, it is very likely to be true. But here’s another truth: If you think that banks are not going to adapt, you’re wrong.

Ripple is a project that is meant to bring blockchain technology closer to the banking industry. There’s no need to kill banks, what we need to kill is the concept of what a bank is. Once the banks find a way to do it properly, they will make a profit out of it just like Coinbase did with the concept of trading (GDAX). This applies to any other major entity in the crypto world. Learn and adapt.

Currently people are using Ripple vastly for long term investment and as form of trade to get into other alternative coins. But the long term investment Is what this could really be about. Bitcoin is not going to kill banks. The Blockchain might bring more equality to the world but not through anarchy, it is through the underlying technology. Rules are necessary in order to live In society, the idea is to create fair rules not discredit the concept of a rule itself. If we didn’t have rules we wouldn’t have blockchain, which is a set of logical rules.

Don’t be mistaken by the glorious vision and growth of Bitcoin. Due to it’s recent social media outburst bitcoin stepped up in market cap percentage

from 40% in August to +60% this month. Would you rather bet on a crypto currency that’s trying to work with the system or one who’s movement is trying to destroy it? Good news, you can have it both.

The world isn’t black and white, Ripple is currently making moves to get their software to be used by various banking firms which means that blockchain could come closer to the money on your account then you think. It is a possibility that in the future your bank uses Ripple to handle your Fiat money and you didn’t even have a say in the matter because it is only used in their database and not as a form storage of value working in your favor.

Now we’ve seen their plans to store in an Escrow Contract nearly half of the tokens (around 60 billion XRP) of the total supply (just over 100 billion XRP) only to get scarcity going on, and increase deflation. An Escrow contract means that the funds are locked away and can only be accessed through certain conditions which are defined previously. This move isn’t yet official and the conditions for the contract are yet to be defined. But one thing is certain, if the banks want to compete in the crypto market they must offer an alternative solution to Bitcoin and all the other forms of investment, and they seem to be doing so.

Just recently a new petition to add it to Coinbase is in rotation through the community. Coinbase represents a big point of influence in terms of adoption.

We’ve seen funds being released for investment in Ripple through TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington by saying he’s raising $100 million for a hedge fund that will buy and hold crypto assets while making investments in token sales and (some) equities and debt.

Image 1: Picture from the New York Times of Michael Arrington.

His most recent comments about 2018:

“I seriously think that we’ll be in the trillions next year, and that we’ll start to see institutional money,” he continued. “I think next year you’ll see significant gains.”

Ripple may not be the answer to all our problems but thinking that it holds no value because it is backed by banks is wrong and unrealistic. Due to the constant misinformation present online it is no surprise how so many people don’t see this.


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