Will the future see crypto-wars between US-backed Ripple and China-dominated Bitcoin? This is not a rhetoric question or pulp fiction. For there is a growing concern in the United States that China has a stranglehold on the world’s biggest crypto – Bitcoin. President Trump wants to counter Shanghai’s iron grip on Bitcoin by nurturing another smaller crypto – Ripple (XRP).
There was sufficient evidence of Ripple’s political-correctness earlier in September this year. At the Ripple event in San Francisco, former President, Bill Clinton backed blockchain technology and the adoption of Cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, Ripple has been drawing attention by its steadily growth in comparison to its peer coins. Significantly, its generically different technology sets it apart from bitcoin’s mining-based supply. The latter is the main cause of worry for the Trump administration.
Cory Johnson, Chief of Ripple Lab strategy team, shared in his latest interview that political bigwigs in the US increasingly fear China’s ether and bitcoin mining prowess.
According to Ripple’s executive, the fact that XRP’s cannot be mined just like Bitcoin has caught the undivided attention of President Trump. Since it does not involve mining infrastructure it does not create environmental issues either, thus winning further brownie points with the Trump administration. More importantly, overseas governments or outfits cannot control XRP given that the platform on which it is built cannot be manipulated.
However, there is the minor issue of Ripple Labs monitoring the supply of ripple into markets and could likely be the major obstacle for the US administrators to back the crypto asset.
Ripple Lab controls supply
Experts quote that nearly 60% of Ripple supply is handled by Ripple Labs and thus, XRP cannot be regarded as an authentic “Decentralized Ledger Technology” (DLT).
Ripple’s differently-enabled technology platform has allowed it develop XRP-specific products which Payment service providers such as Mercury FX and Cuallix, and Catalyst Corporate Credit Union, a cooperative financial firm want to offer their crypto-demanding clients. The Contract with these companies drove prices of XRP up by nearly 100%.
Ripple is more practical to use
It is already used by one of the world’s largest banking organization, Santander, when it launched the first ever app to overcome “cross-border foreign exchange,” with Ripple Labs expertise.
Apart from political backing it appears that most users have had a better experience with Ripple and are recommending it for practical uses.
Hence, soon there could be a crypto-divide as China continues to mine more bitcoin, and President Trump back’s Ripple for its practical use case.
