Ripple is among one of the fastest blockchain networks in
Ripple is among one of the fastest blockchain networks in the crypto space providing high transaction speeds at minimal transaction fee. This also makes Ripple’s XRapid network to be one of the most sought after scalable networks to be incorporated by banks around the world.
Ripple has been on a collaboration spree recently with major banks around the world showing their interest to integrate xRapid into their payment portals. xRapid promises ultra high-speed of the transaction at minimal transaction fee. Ripple is also considered to be one of the best places to work at, as the recent survey suggests more than 90% of Ripple employees are satisfied with their workspace and salary.
Having said that, Ripple has also been at the receiving end of blockchain enthusiasts and other cryptocurrency developers, calling out Ripple for its centralization and the control over the supply of XRP tokens in the market.
So, what kind of Blockchain is Ripple, is it centralized or decentralized? we will look at various aspect of it and try to understand which side is more prominent the centralized side or the decentralized one and then try to answer the question more rationally.
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Ripple and the “Centralization” Debate
Ripple blockchain’s only aspect which puts a spot on it’s otherwise phenomenal and praiseworthy network is the level of centralization and control that the company has over its token supply.
Cryptocurrency was invented to bring a decentralized form of economy where even the creators of a particular digital token do not hold any monopoly or power over the supply and operations on their network. Bitcoin was created by an anonymous psudo-named Satoshi Nakamoto and he never revealed his identity or has any authority over the network.
The main aim behind the creation of cryptocurrency was to bring in the distribution of power as the centralized form of operations like the bank have lost the faith in the community and have failed us many a time. This is the reason Ripple is often called out for trying to project itself as one of the most scalable and fastest blockchain networks.
If your network has centralization, it would be faster when compared to a decentralized network. However, the reason that ripple want itself to be known as one of the fastest cryptocurrencies is that it believes using the best of both worlds can actually make the financial system more robust and efficient rather than falling into the centralization and decentralization debate.
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Ripple Make Use of Best of Both Worlds
Ripple does have majority control over its circulation supply, but it also makes use of decentralization to ensure that its network works like a decentralized payment portal which helps it keep the transaction fee almost negligible.
Ripple make use of best of both worlds that is decentralization in its database to ensure transparency and trust, while a certain level of centralization in its consensus part to give the consumer the lighting fast speed and also ensure that the consumers do not have to waster a ton of money in terms of transaction charges.
The goal should always be an efficient system which is not bound by ideologies that so and so, can be only good if it’s decentralized. The need for the cryptocurrencies did not arrive because the centralized system was in-efficient but mainly because people were losing trust in these old-age traditional systems.
The technology did not fail us and brought us on the brink of another major financial meltdown. Its the people in control who became too powerful with enough resources to manipulate and bring all of us on the brink of a system which helps the powerful and oppress the needy ones.
If we look at the cryptocurrency space, only Bitcoin and Ethereum are not considered as security and thus does not have to abide by security laws to function. While rest of all the altcoins still fall under the bracket of security. The reason being, even these altcoins does not have enough level of decentralization on its network to be considered as an entity.
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Final Thoughts
Ripple might be on the receiving end for having excess control over its supply, and a certain level of decentralization on its network but that cannot hide the fact that almost every altcoin in the space is centralized in some form. However, Ripple has done enough development work on its platform to become one of the most scalable and fastest blockchain networks in the crypto space.
The debate might go on, on what level of centralization is acceptable or what level of control on the network is acceptable, however that won’t change the fact that hundreds of banks have already joined hands to implement XRapid into their banking system and an almost equal number of banks are looking to incorporate the Ripple’s payment portal into their system.
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