Ripple has become one of the most criticized projects over the last year. Ripple saw the biggest gains of all crypto projects in 2017, but at the same time Ripple also started to get a lot of heat from a big part of the crypto community. Posted under almost every Ripple and or XRP centric video or news item, were comments like “the Ripple network isn’t decentralized” and “XRP is a bankers coin”. With the launch of xRapid, however, the negativity around Ripple and XRP seems to be fading away.
A lot of attention also attracts a lot of haters. Over the past year, Ripple was getting smashed by critics stating that XRP was “useless”. That said, the negative stance towards Ripple and XRP seems to be changing over the past 2 months. More and more critics are now acknowledging that XRP might have a very bright future.
1. Ran Neuner
At the beginning of the year, one of the Ripple critics, Ran Neuner from CNBC, told on live TV that it was best to throw XRP in de garbage. It was useless and should, therefore, not be in anyone’s crypto portfolio. Very hard words from the CNBC news anchor, which sparked some rage amongst the big and enthusiastic XRP community.
As of June however, Ran Neuner seems to have seen the light. A series of tweets over the past months show that Neuner his opinion about Ripple (the company) and XRP have changed.
It all started with Neuner visiting the Ripple team in June:
So here I am meeting the head of product at Ripple. I said, I have an open mind and if I was wrong I will eat my words! #Ripple #XRP pic.twitter.com/59igpAFJVo
— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) June 28, 2018
Then, in July, Neuner suddenly tweeted that he believes the XRP tokens has “great utility”, a 180-degree shift from his view earlier this year.
Having done a ton of research on XRP, I’m not that surprised Coinbase isn’t listing it.
The token does have great utility despite what I initially thought. Coinbase wouldn’t list it as there are concerns that it is a security under US law because it is not clearly decentralized.— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) July 13, 2018
And now, Neuner is even tweeting things like this:
If you want to be part of the XRP army, do you have to change your handle to have XRP before your name? Asking for a friend…
— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) September 30, 2018
So, apparently, Ran Neuner has shifted his negative view towards a more pro-XRP attitude. But, Neuner is actually not the only person changing his opinion about XRP.
2. Phillip Nunn
This week, Phillip Nunn, the CEO of two multinational companies, The Blackmore Group and Wealth Chain Group, gave credits to Ripple on Twitter. Even though Nunn says he’s not a supporter of the technology from its inception because of its highly centralized nature, he does acknowledge the achievements of the Ripple team. Nunn said the following:
“I’ve never been a supporter of #ripple $xrp, but boy they are making some serious moves. And the fact I have issues with their offering is being put aside for now as they become so important in flying the #crypto #blockchain flag. They will become the Microsoft of #crypto.”
Asked about his statement by BusinessCloud, a UK-based media outlet, Nunn said:
“I see a whole load of similarities to Microsoft’s place within the advent of the internet. You can argue that Microsoft’s tech is substandard and that it’s clunky – compared to say, Apple, it is nowhere near as innovative and up to the task.
However, the genius of Bill Gates was the fact he was in early and timing was everything. Whilst others were focusing on product development, he was focusing on adoption. Windows, Excel, and Word are the go-to tool for every business.
The next wave of crypto is all about adoption: those who crack that will succeed and those who don’t will fail. XRP and Ripple are getting into all the banks and positioning themselves.”
Phillip Nunn might not be the biggest supporter of Ripple and XRP, it should create confidence amongst XRP holders that Nunn is acknowledging that Ripple has the potential to become the next Microsoft. And, after Nunn made his statements, he even went back to Twitter ending the ‘discussion’ with the following tweet:
I’ve been called out a lot about my #ripple $xrp statements.
You’re missing the point. And it’s this. #crypto only survives now with one thing.
ADOPTION.And Ripple are way ahead of any other offering when it comes to relationships with banks etc.
We should all applaud.
— Phillip Nunn 🚀 (@PhillipNunnUK) October 7, 2018
Ripple and XRP
One might disagree with Ripple (XRP) as an investment or what it stands for. That said, it is hard to deny the successes the Ripple team has had during the last few years.
Over the last 2 years, Ripple has been partnering with a lot of big fintech companies and also has earned the trust of a good number of financial institutions adopting its xRapid’s system for more convenient and super fast global transactions.
The product, xRapid, is a commercial application that uses the cryptocurrency XRP as a kind of “bridge” between currencies, allowing payment providers and banks to process faster cross-border transactions.
Currently, XRP is worth 48 cents per coin after climbing as high as 66 cents in September. Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group, said two weeks ago that he expects XRP to gather momentum and reach the $1 mark by the end of the year.
Ripple XRP is currently the third largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ethereum by market cap.
