Ripple (XRP): Why So Biased?

Ripple (XRP) entered the market as a direct competitor to Bitcoin. The company projected itself as the best blockchain project in the market for its rapid transaction speed and incredibly low cost per transaction which would lead many to think that this coin is far better than Bitcoin in obvious ways. Unfortunately, it would appear that a lot of investors do not see it that way. At the beginning of early 2017, we saw a lot of hate towards Ripple (XRP) on a multitude of online platforms. Some investors called it a bank coin; some called it a centralized coin. While there is some truth to all this, it is important to note that most of the unfair bias towards XRP is based on misinformation and propaganda to malign Ripple (XRP). Investors who call XRP a bank coin or centralized coin do not realize that XRP is not the creation of any bank nor is it owned by any bank. Even Ripple, the company does not control XRP. If the company were to go bankrupt, XRP would still continue to exist in the market. Those who criticize the company for having a large supply of the coins ignore the fact that 50 Billion XRP are held in escrow and with each and every transaction, an amount of XRP is destroyed which makes the coin deflationary. I do understand investors concern that Ripple owning a large number of XRP gives them more control of the coin. However, it is pertinent to note that it is in the interest of Ripple that its coin XRP does well. While it is true that a large number of coins are concentrated in the hands of one company, it would be reasonable to accept that for banks or large financial institutions to partner up with Ripple and to use their services, they want a certain degree of stability. If it were not for Ripple’s control of majority supply of XRP, the company would not be able to promise that stability to prospective partners who want to use XRP for their liquidity solutions. Apart from misinformation, which is common in nascent markets with mostly first time investors, we have seen deliberate attempts to try to isolate Ripple (XRP). It makes no sense for large exchanges like Gemini or Coinbase to not add XRP until now despite growing demand from users of these platforms. In late 2017, some XRP loyalists took to online petitions to appeal to Coinbase to list XRP but nothing has happened so far. On the very contrary, earlier this year Coinbase denied plans of adding XRP which resulted in a price drop that erased most of the coin’s gains resulting in investors outburst and rage towards Coinbase who on different community websites vowed never to use Coinbase again. A simple explanation of such undue bias towards Ripple (XRP) would be its potential to dominate the space which could put some coins out of business. Another explanation can be considered a principled approach to isolate any projects that are trying to give the banks more control. A new explanation that has recently surfaced is the debate of whether XRP is actually a security or not. Ripple continues to term XRP as a digital asset. Investors who realize these concerns but still invest in Ripple (XRP) argue that decentralization will take its time and banks and financial institutions which have existed for centuries are not going to give up their control that easy and as such, it would be a good investment to bet on projects that will help them process payments faster and cheaper.