Ripple (XRP) has just made a potentially revolutionary move by taking a huge step towards decentralization. Ripple the company now officially owns less than half (10) of the 21 total nodes, while the rest of them (11) are owned by third parties.
XRP moves towards decentralization
Many are, undoubtedly, already aware of the fact that Ripple has had a lot of problems when it comes to decentralization recently. And while some of them have been resolved, many of them still remain. Put simply, decentralization means that power is subtracted from a single governing body and delivered to community members.
This is the only purpose for creating cryptocurrencies since they were originally created as a sign of protest against the banks that held all the power by managing all the money. However, Ripple (XRP) does not seem to have closely followed this cryptographic rule, and its parent company, Ripple Labs, has been accused of having total control of the currency many times. More than that, they faced multiple causes from dissatisfied XRP owners who claimed that the company tricked them with Ripple price manipulation.
In fact, the situation has become so serious that Ripple Labs has received more complaints and accusations than any other company that has launched its own cryptography. Naturally, the company continued to deny these claims on every occasion. They claimed to be a separate entity dealing with software solutions and that XRP is self-contained.
At the same time, however, the company seemed to own most of XRP, with a further significant amount of it. in escrow accounts.
However, it would appear that Ripple's situation is taking a positive step with the recent report that the XRP decentralization strategy is underway. The strategy has been under development for a long time and it seems that it has finally started to bear fruit. According to the report, Ripple Labs currently controls less than half the list of unique nodes, with an entire 52% of them owned by third parties and only 48% of those that remain in the company's possession.
the plan of the company has always been, and they are slowly but inexorably replacing their influence on the currency with that of the community.
Ripple and XRP are (not) equal
According to Cory Johnson, the company's Chief Market Strategist, XRP is just one of the company's many investments. However, society has always used money only as a liquidity tool. They used it to facilitate transfers through one of their most popular products, xRapid. It has never been the intention of the company to manipulate the price of XRP or attempt to deceive investors from their money.
Many experts believe that most of this is true, apart from the fact that Ripple and XRP are separate entities. However, all the controversy and the recent lawsuits have left many investors doubtful about XRP, unwilling to run the risk of pledging their money in a potentially centralized currency. Not to mention the accusations that XRP was a security. And while these allegations are apparently false, investor confidence in this currency has not yet fully returned.
The interesting thing is that, despite all the criticisms, accusations, legal actions and controversy, XRP has nevertheless seen a significant increase in its levels of adoption. Only recently, it was accepted by Netcoins, which allowed investors to buy it from over 21,000 stores worldwide.
Of course, Ripple remains a much desired currency, and many hope that the new development will continue to bring XRP to full decentralization in the days to come.