In this video, I discuss whether Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency is a scam.
Although Ripple Labs did not create XRP, both share some of the same founders (like Jed McCaleb). Ripple Labs also magically ended up with 80% of the XRP supply. So please do not ever say that Ripple Labs created XRP. These are sophisticated scammers who know how to put some distance between their various legal entities.
Ripple's main business model is dumping XRP on naive retail investors and then using the cash proceeds to buy publicity and to pay other financial services companies to try out its software.
Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, XRP is neither Proof of Work or Proof of Stake. Instead, the XRP ledger runs using "validators." While Ripple Labs only controls a small percentage of validators, the fact remains that Ripple Labs still controls and directs XRP code development, as well as wielding enormous economic control by holding such a large percentage of the total XRP supply. If Ripple Labs wanted to change the XRP ledger code to increase the total max supply of 100 billion, who could or would stop them?
XRP is extremely centralized compared to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. If you wanted to sue Bitcoin, whom would you sue? The full nodes, miners, and developers are spread out across the globe, and there is no central corporation like Ripple Labs.
Ripple Labs has been and continues to be the target of multiple lawsuits, including an investigation by the SEC. The future price of XRP is dependent on how Ripple Labs fares in these lawsuits. This further demonstrates the centralized nature of XRP.
The market for XRP is surprisingly illiquid. Attempting to sell even just $5 million worth of XRP will drive down the price of XRP by 3.50%, as compared to just 0.16% for Bitcoin and 0.39% for ETH. This makes it virtually impossible for institutional investors to take a stake in XRP, even if they wanted to.
I believe that XRP is definitely a scam-- it is a slow-motion pump and dump. I hope that the SEC and other regulators are ultimately able to send many Ripple Labs executives and founders to jail.
These are just my personal opinions, based on my own research. I do not know any of these people personally. But it sure looks to me like many of them belong in jail.
Not investment advice! Consult a financial advisor.
XRP was not created by Ripple Labs:
https://medium.com/@gregedout7/xrp-is-open-source-and-it-was-not-created-by-our-company-so-that-existed-as-an-open-source-a1a4f61fc506My previous videos on XRP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPxFcSXNB4A&ab_channel=TraderUniversityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJKeq8saTrk&ab_channel=TraderUniversityRipple uses XRP to generate publicity:
https://news.coinsquare.com/digital-currency/ripple-stephen-colbert-donation/http
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BnNtwtvcYs