Even if you are an expert in cryptocurrencies, you probably can’t use the words “XRP” and “micropayments” in a single sentence. Well, no… you could always write “Ripple’s XRP use cases have never once included micropayments.” That would be a true statement and the reason why that’s the only sentence that could probably fit those two words. There are reasons for that, but they’re changing. In this article, we give you context on what those reasons are and explain to you how they’re changing.
Crypto and purpose
These days there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies in the market, and most of them have very little to offer to investors or users because they’re little more than pet projects for its creators and as such, they issue tokens with no competitive advantage. But some blockchain projects (very few indeed) were born with a purpose from the beginning.
For instance, Ethereum created the second generation blockchain which brought programmable crypto platforms to the world that could support decentralized applications and smart contracts; Litecoin was designed so it could give you all the goodness in Bitcoin without the insane amounts of energy it takes to create new blocks for BTC; Tron wants to decentralize the web by means of blockchain technology; Electroneum wants to turn crypto into an all about mobile and micropayments thing. And then there’s XRP.
XRP is the cryptocurrency created by Ripple and Ripple is the private company behind the Ripple Net. It’s had a definite purpose every bit as much as the blockchain projects mentioned in the previous paragraph. Ripple’s aims to use its software, blockchain network and cryptocurrency to eliminate all the friction inherent to the settling of international money transfers.
That kind of financial operation is currently done using the SWIFT system (interesting name since there’s nothing “swift” about that system which is slow, expensive and unreliable). Ripple’s tech can do the same job in minutes instead of days, for fractions of a penny instead of percentages of the operation or fees ar high as USD 25,00. It’s also safer and more reliable.
Ripple’s use case of choice implies that micropayments have never been in the cards for the project. It never wanted to be a retail currency, that’s been Bitcoin’s domain since the beginning (although Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash are pressing hard in that market). It’s never been a cryptocurrency for you and me to use to pay for, say, cigarettes or beer. But that is changing. The idea was (and still remains) for banks and remittance services to adopt the token and bounce it amongst them so international transfers can be settled.
Ripple’s new priorities
But Ripple has recently understood the advantages in allowing (even promoting) its coin for micropayments. It facilitates mass adoption, it creates demand, and it increases trading volumes. In other words, it improves the project’s fundamentals which, in turn, raises the currency’s market capitalization and token value.
That’s why in recent times, Ripple has been partnering up with several companies all over the world so that XRP becomes, yes, the banking industry cryptocurrency of choice, but also a currency that is as useful for you and me as Bitcoin can be.
And Ripple is succeeding. In Europe, there are several debit cards available as you read this that allows you to use XRP tokens available in your digital wallet to pay for anything you want in the street or the web as if you were using your usual debit or credit card. Through other partnerships, XRP is now accepted in thousands of online businesses on the internet too.
So what would be the next step? Well, it could be Skype. It’s pretty much up to you, believe it or not.
Right now there’s a request at Skype’s official forums to add cryptocurrency micropayments to Skype. And the request is explicitly formulated to include XRP as means to send and receive digital money using Skype. One thousand four hundred twelve votes have been cast as we write this and, if you want to vote as well, you can do it here.
The world belongs to those who adapt, and the crypto-world won’t be any different. XRP is on the right track.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.
Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.