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Ripple CTO Comments on the Decentralization of XRP Ledger

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Ripple

David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, wishes to clear things up regarding the decentralized nature of XRP.

Ripple Labs, the parent company of the third largest crypto by market cap, Ripple (XRP), has gone through many accusations of its token being centralized and security, instead of a real cryptocurrency. And while the company always defended XRP by saying that these claims are false and that Ripple’s network is not centralized, the large part of the crypto world has yet to be convinced of this.

This is why Ripple’s top representative, David Schwartz, decided to clear things up and talk about the XRP ledger.

Schwartz about decentralization

The definition of decentralization is pretty clear, and Merriam-Webster dictionary describes it as ‘dispersion or distribution of functions and powers‘. While this seems pretty straightforward, things can get a bit more complicated when the concept is applied to the crypto world. David Schwartz’s recent statement also mentions this, and he says that this concept is largely misunderstood. He also said that the concept is evolving, which makes its true meaning even more difficult to pinpoint.

His report called “The Inherently Decentralized Nature of XRP Ledger” is Schwartz’s attempt to explain things regarding XRP’s decentralization, and potentially put a stop to various accusations of Ripple’s centralized nature.

He continues to say that XRP is different from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which are using algorithms called Proof-of-Work (PoW) in order to reward miners with coins for their service of validating transactions. Ripple cannot be mined, and instead, it uses a special consensus protocol through which validators verify transactions without rewards.

According to him, these validators are located all around the world and include exchanges, institutions, as well as individuals. This makes the XRP ledger truly decentralized and democratic, as it doesn’t provide anyone with full control over the coin.

Ripple’s CEO confirmed this and supported Schwartz’s post via Twitter when he also promised to talk about the subject himself during his next Ask Me Anything session (which is already completed now).

XRP more decentralized than BTC and ETH?

Schwartz then talked about the supposed decentralization of Bitcoin and Ethereum, stating that up to 58% of BTC network is being controlled by the 4 large mining pools at any given time. Even worse, 57% of ETH network is controlled by only three mining pools. As such, he claims that they are actually far less decentralized than Ripple itself.

Even though the US SEC declared that BTC and ETH are not securities due to the fact that they do not have central governing authority, Schwartz claims that the things are not as simple as that. He also stated that almost 80% of BTC mining is coming from a single country — China. That way, Bitcoin might actually be manipulated by one government. He even warns that there is a real danger of the top two cryptos falling victims to 51% attacks, and possibly have fraudulent transactions.

Then, there is Ripple, which needs 80% of its total validators to constantly support changes over the period of two entire weeks before anything new is applied.

Additionally, XRP operates only 10 out of 150 validators that are currently in charge of validating transactions. When it comes to changing things on the network, each validator only has a single vote to cast. In the end, Schwartz has stated that Ripple is controlling XRP much less than China is controlling BTC.

Finally, he stated his last reason, which should convince everyone that Ripple is truly decentralized, and that is the fact that its users need to select UNL (Unique Code List).

That is basically a list of validators that the users trust, and have chosen them themselves. That way, users are free to pick anyone as their validator, instead of getting someone assigned to them at random, or by company’s choice. With that in mind, he claims that Ripple is, and always has been, nothing less than inherently decentralized.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.

Image courtesy of Brandon Mowinkel via Unsplash

Altcoins

Solana Price Surges Beyond $100, Dethroning Ripple and BNB To Secure Fourth Place

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Solana price performance in recent times has been remarkable, surpassing Ripple and Binance Coin to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The SOL price breached the critical level of $100 for the first time since April 2022 over the weekend to imbue optimism among investors. However, the altcoin has corrected by 7%, suggesting that the market is overheated. At the time of writing, the ‘Ethereum killer’ was trading slightly lower at $111.60.

SOL Outlook

Solana price has made a significant recovery over the past few weeks, climbing above the psychological level of $100. The altcoin has been one of the best-performing assets this year, extending its year-to-date gains to more than 1,025%, with more gains recorded in the past month alone. However, even with such growth, analysts have noted that Solana has a bleak chance of topping its ATH of $260.

The reason behind this is the increase in supply relative to its value. In November 2021, when the Solana price hit its all-time high of $260, its total market capitalization was around $78 billion. Despite the value of the crypto asset being less than half of what it was at the top, its market cap is currently hovering near $50 billion.

This has been brought about by the increase in the Solana supply by more than 100 million SOL over the past two years. According to some analysts, for the altcoin to retest $260, its…

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Altcoins

Solana Price Skyrockets to 20-Month Peak Amidst Memecoin Frenzy

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Solana price has noted significant gains over the past few weeks, climbing to its highest level since April 2022. The ‘Ethereum Killer’ almost topped the crucial level of $100 on Friday, before pulling back slightly. The asset’s recent surge has catapulted Solana’s total market cap to $39.6 billion, ranking 5th after and above BNB and XRP, respectively. Solana has jumped by more than 22% in the past week and more than 80% in the month to date. At the time of writing, SOL price was trading 0.90% lower at $93.10.

Catalysts Behind SOL’s Rally

Solana price has been on a strong bull run over the past few days, rocketing to its highest level in 20 months as the network benefits from the substantial activity and strong interest in memecoins. The SOL token, the native digital asset of the high-performance blockchain platform Solana, has shown some serious strength over the past few weeks, outperforming all the altcoins in the market.

The recent surge in the Solana price has been linked to heightened on-chain activities on the Solana blockchain. Notably, the ongoing hype for the blockchain’s speedy transactions, cheap fees, and a lottery of meme coin issuances has buoyed SOL’s on-chain activity. Metrics have revealed that Solana has been the strongest draw among on-chain traders, with trading volumes and network fees outperforming Ethereum- the largest altcoin by market cap.

Cited figures provided by DeFi aggregator DeFiLlama

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Altcoins

Solana Price Breaches $60 Amid a Symphony of Bullish Indicators

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Solana price has jumped more than 8% over the past week, breaching the important level of $60. At the time of writing, Solana was trading 3% higher at $61.07. The asset’s total market cap has climbed to $25.9 billion over the past week, ranking it the 6th largest cryptocurrency after XRP. The total volume of SOL traded over the last day has declined by 8%.

SOL’s Bullish Cues

Solana’s price has been among the best-performing cryptocurrencies this year amid continuous growth. The “Ethereum killer” has consistently impressed investors throughout the year on the back of a resurgence in bullishness, which saw SOL’s price climb more than 513% in the year to date. Institutional investors have also shared the bullish sentiment, making Solana their most preferred altcoin.

In the week ending November 24, Solana recorded inflows worth nearly $3.5 million, significantly more than the other altcoins’ inflows combined. The asset’s monthly inflows were higher at $40.2 million, lower than Ethereum’s $99.6 million inflows in the same period. Other altcoins, including Litecoin and Ethereum, noted significant outflows, making Solana nearly half of the home for DeFi. This implies that when it comes to institutions, Solana is currently the best-performing altcoin with the potential of a long-term rally much higher than other digital assets.

Notably, the Solana DeFi ecosystem accomplished a significant milestone earlier this week. Its Total Value Locked (TVL) hit a new yearly peak of over $655 million,…

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