🤡 Ripple’s CTO: Banks Love Offchain, Terrorists Hate Onchain 🤷‍♂️

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Ah, Ripple—that enigmatic purveyor of digital promises and offchain whispers. The company, whose cryptocurrency XRP has long danced on the periphery of financial respectability, finds itself in a peculiar waltz with its critics. Online entrepreneur Andrei Jikh, with the zeal of a man who’s just discovered a moth in his wallet, took to X (formerly known as Twitter, for those still clinging to the past) to question Ripple’s transparency and projects. 🕵️‍♂️

“Where are the banks?” Jikh cried, his digital voice echoing through the void. “Show me the onchain data! Prove these 300 partnerships are more than a mirage in the blockchain desert!” His concerns, like a stone in a still pond, sent ripples (pun unintended, but delightful) through the crypto community. 🌊

Enter David Schwartz, Ripple’s chief technology officer, a man whose title alone suggests he should have all the answers. With the grace of a philosopher and the precision of a man who’s just been cornered, he joined the thread to address Jikh’s six questions. “Institutions prefer offchain,” he explained, as if this were a universal truth, like the sky being blue or taxes being inevitable. 🏦

“Even we don’t use our own ledger for transactions,” Schwartz admitted, a statement as surprising as finding a cucumber in a fruit salad. 🥒 But fear not, for he assured us that institutions are “starting to see the benefits of moving onchain.” At this rate, they’ll be there by the next ice age. ❄️

The Slow Waltz of Onchain Adoption

Schwartz, ever the diplomat, acknowledged the glacial pace of onchain adoption. “It’s been very slow,” he conceded, as if the XRPL were a tortoise in a race against hares on stimulants. 🐢 The reason? Concerns about terrorism financing, of course. “We can’t be sure a terrorist won’t provide the liquidity for payment,” he said, a statement that somehow manages to be both terrifying and absurd. 🤡

“Permissioned domains” might solve this, he suggested, though how remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma, served with a side of blockchain. 🧩

The XRPL: A Blockchain in Search of a Purpose

Launched in 2012, the XRPL is a decentralized, open-source blockchain—a phrase that sounds impressive until you realize it’s like describing a bicycle as a “human-powered, two-wheeled vehicle.” 🚲 Ripple positions it as a “decentralized public blockchain built for business,” which is a bit like calling a hammer a “nail-driving device for professionals.”

Partnerships with the Dubai government and Guggenheim? Impressive, until you remember that actual transaction volume remains as elusive as a honest politician. 🕵️‍♀️

DefiLlama reports a mere $81.8 million in total value locked (TVL) on XRPL DeFi applications. But Schwartz reassures us that most institutional activity happens offchain, where it’s as visible as a ghost at a séance. 👻

The Great XRPL Decline of Q1 2025

After a year of growth in 2024, XRPL activity took a nosedive in Q1 2025, with a 30–40% drop in new wallet creation and transaction volume. “In line with activity contractions seen across major blockchains,” Ripple noted, as if this were a comfort rather than a red flag. 🚩

DeFi activity, however, was “more resilient,” with only a 16% decline. A silver lining, perhaps, or just the last flicker of a dying candle. 🕯️

The XRP Markets Report: A Quiet Farewell

In a move as subtle as a sledgehammer, Ripple announced the sunset of its XRP Markets Report in Q2 2025. “The report is evolving,” they said, a phrase that sounds suspiciously like “we’re tired of explaining ourselves.” 🌅

“As more institutions engage with XRP, additional perspectives and insights are expected to follow, pushing the market conversation forward.”

CryptoMoon reached out to Ripple for comment, but as of publication, the silence was as profound as a Chekhovian pause. 🦗

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2025-07-30 17:21