Amid a contentious discussion regarding Ripple and XRP identity, the firm’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has provided insights on the subject, emphasizing the company’s effort to provide clarity between both parties.
Ripple CTO On Naming Controversy
Both XRP and Ripple have similar pasts; XRP was once known as “ripples” before taking on its current configuration. Due to this, both parties are sometimes mistaken as one, leading to constant confusion within the entire cryptocurrency community over time.
Initially, the recent debate around the company’s and XRP naming which originated from the X (formerly Twitter) platform was triggered by popular Australlian-based attorney Bill Morgan. The lawyer brought the community’s attention to a situation where the Australian Crypto Convention’s website mislabeled XRP as Ripple.
“The good old Australian exchange that still wrongly equates Ripple with XRP. Sad after all these years,” he stated. Morgan’s post was accompanied by a screenshot providing clarity on the difference between Ripple and XRP.
Expressing displeasure, a user commented saying Morgan is ignorant of the past, as XRP was referred to as Ripples prior to the 2017 bull run, urging the lawyer to review past news articles to know what they called them. However, Morgan concurred with the user highlighting that the problem is that both entities are 7 years out of date.
David Schwartz weighed in on the matter after another user blamed the payment firm for the controversy over the years. According to Schwartz, the company had no way of predicting that the outcome would lead to confusion in the future.
This is because private blockchains and initial coin offerings (ICOs) had not yet been introduced when they came up with the names of the entities. However, the firm made every effort to encourage the community to acknowledge the differences.
Nik Bougalis, the company’s former Director of Engineering, also shared his insights on the subject. In his commentary, Bougalis claimed that the firm’s unilateral adoption of the name “Ripple” from the network and protocol was the cause of the naming dispute. Thus, he asserts that it was an egregiously poor choice of name with well-defined long-term consequences.
Distinction Between The Company And XRP
Knowing the difference between the two bodies is essential for anyone trying to navigate the cryptocurrency market successfully. This way, crypto enthusiasts can more fully recognize the distinct contributions that each has made to the larger crypto landscape by making a distinction between both parties.
It is important to note that Ripple is a money transfer network created to meet the demands of the financial services sector, and XRP functions as the native utility token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
XRP has a more direct role in facilitating transactions on the blockchain, whereas Ripple’s technology suite is intended to be embraced by financial institutions for better payment processing and settlements.