This year’s bear market has seen most of the top cryptocurrencies hemorrhage over 80% as they plummet from those lofty heights made almost a year ago. Some have fared better than others and Ripple’s XRP token has been one of them. Crypto technology, however, is still in need of vast improvement, at least according to the chief technology officer at the fintech firm.
Technology Before Adoption
Ripple has been one of the most pro-active blockchain companies during the downturn as it continues to sign up banking and finance partners to RippleNet and offer services based on XRP. The token itself may well be down 90% from its peak at over $3.50 but it has managed to usurp Ethereum and is now the second largest cryptocurrency on the planet.
Many have asserted that greater adoption will be the catalyst to reverse the trend and send crypto markets on the road to recovery. Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, however believes that the technology needs improving before that can happen.
The 2017 bull run saw crypto prices surge thousands of percent in a short space of time which led to their store of value being far greater than their potential for use. This catalyzed the inevitable selloff as adoption of a new method of money movement never actually happened.
According to Forbes some fear that the current problems cryptocurrencies face such as centralized exchanges, security and hacking concerns, and lack of regulation could put people off using them for their intended purpose.
“I don’t want the adoption to get ahead of the technology. It took a long time for the internet to get to the point where it was suitable for anybody to use it and you didn’t have to really understand the technology in great detail in order to be able to get it to work,” Schwartz said on a recent podcast.
Difficulties using cryptos such as setting up wallets and navigating often clunky exchanges may be holding back that adoption that the industry so badly needs. On the flip side, crypto offerings from the institutional heavyweights such as Bakkt and Fidelity could be the on-ramp for greater adoption.
True global adoption will only really take off when the volatility is tempered. Using a digital token to buy a coffee where the price can change by several percent by the time it is poured is not practical by any means.
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