In an interview on the sidelines of Slush Tokyo, David Schwartz, the chief cryptographer at Ripple said that the company’s focus during these tough times for the cryptocurrency industry is delivering real value to their users which will ultimately differentiate Ripple from the many other cryptocurrency startups in the market.
Slush is an internationally renowned event that brings together hundreds of startups, venture capitalists and industry heads to discuss entrepreneurship and emerging global business trends. It’s student-driven and aims to change people’s attitudes towards entrepreneurship.
People are now so concerned about regulations that they have forgotten what actually matters; the actual problems being solved by cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology according to David. Ripple has therefore focused on developing payment networks for financial institutions that are keeping in line with regulatory requirements.
When asked about the company’s focus in regards to XRP, David outlined business performance as among the most important. XRP’s use in settlement of funds in real time is the company’s priority. Security is key as well with Ripple having its code reviewed regularly by third parties to determine if there are any vulnerabilities. Decentralization is the third area of focus for Ripple. He urged more users to make use of XRP and the XRP Ledger as the active participation would strengthen the network.
When asked whom he considers as Ripple’s competitors, David mentioned Swift as the main competitor in the funds transfer market. Other companies using the blockchain to settle transfers are also competitors but Ripple’s technology is superior.
Regulations are increasingly becoming a determining factor in the success of any cryptocurrency project and Ripple is working to become compliant, David further disclosed. With many of its clients being in the very strictly regulated banking industry, Ripple has to work with and not against regulations. Ripple also has several updates planned in the future which will improve the speed of transactions, encourage decentralization and give users the ability to control how they receive payments.
