Recently, Chris Larsen, co-founder and chief executive of Ripple, he shared some views on Bitcoin and the industry of cryptocurrencies in general. Specifically in the podcast of the CTO of Ripple, David Schwartz. The podcast that bears the name “Block Stars” pulled out the first episode with this interview. There, Larsen said some things Bitcoin, of what he believes will be the future of the industry and even commented on some things about your experience as a patient treated by COVID-19. The podcast began with Larsen commenting on his experience with the disease that has the whole world in sailing today. The first thing that highlighted the co-founder of Ripple is that “it Was unlikely to (…) Lasted almost two weeks. My wife and I, both we, and only we stayed at home.” In addition, she commented that it certainly had one or two days of fear, but fortunately his children did not suffer the disease. Even commented that the recover was able to donate blood, especially because “some hospitals need blood of any person in order to help other patients and do some testing of new treatments”. At the time he took the opportunity to urge others to do the same.
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What do you think about Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, about Bitcoin?
He stressed that the desire to have global currencies not controlled by the government was born long before the era which saw the birth of Bitcoin. Used as an example of the “Linden Dollars”, but acknowledged that it did Satoshi Nakamoto was the beginning of the era of cryptocurrencies as we know it today. “Bitcoin was the right technology at the economic times right,” explained Larsen. According to him, the financial crisis of 2008 exposed the bankruptcy of the banks and the central government and “the people lost faith in the world”. That was a frightening time and Bitcoin seemed to be the solution. However, Chris commented that he did not consider that Bitcoin was the solution but recognizes that this idea “captured the imagination of people called libertarians, or people who had a utopian vision of the world”. Chris Larsen has worked with the cryptocurrencies for a long time, especially since it worked to create Ripple and XRP. However, his vision is different from those who support the cryptocurrencies as a substitute of the global financial system.
Do you need to trust the market of cryptocurrencies?
She also acknowledged that for him, many of the people who led the start of the market and industry of cryptocurrencies were more confident in the “code” in humans. “I don’t know if naive is the word, but there was a misplaced trust in the code that would fix all the problems with humans,” he said later. In addition, Larsen said he doesn’t buy the claim that the industry cryptocurrencies is an ecosystem where you are not required to be trusted. To emphasize this he said that in a world with over 7 billion people, it is impossible to escape it. With this Larsen wanted to say that even in the world of cryptocurrencies it is necessary to trust, because you have to hold on those who look after the tokens, the functionality of the exchanges, and so on. In summary, for Chris, Bitcoin and the cryptocurrencies are not the solution-specific or total of all the problems of the global financial system, but progress towards that goal.
What, then, represent the cryptocurrencies Larsen?
The idea behind Ripple and XRP left in evidence the vision of Chris Larsen with regard to this topic. However, he left it pretty clear in the podcast. Despite the revolutionary ideals of many of the early believers in Bitcoin, Chris Larsen never thought that the technology Blockchain should be used to overthrow the existing financial system. Skeptical about the obsession of Silicon Valley with the disruption, Chris believes that the innovations most transformative of history has always been based on the great ideas that came before them. “I think that, as with all things in which humans have made progress, and is a further step to make things better. It is another tool that, if it is driven by the idea correct, with the right vision at the right time, will make things better.” In addition, he added that the cryptocurrencies serve as inspiration for people of all kinds, or belief, that they work and are bright. According to Larsen, are these people that set long-term and will change the financial system. But, to him it is more a matter of incremental change, that of “burn everything that is old”.
Evolution vs. revolution
Some ideas of the ceo of Ripple demonstrate that advocates for evolution without revolution. That is to say, rely on piecemeal processes. According to him, it is very important to talk to people and institutions on their ability to participate in this industry, and motivate them, explaining to them that if you do not will be irrelevant in the future.
“This is what we need to continue doing before you see a total transformation of how the world works. We’re not there yet, but we are on track to achieve that.”
What are the cryptocurrencies the key to the triumph the champion of globalization?
At this point in the interview, Larsen said several interesting things. First, he said that globalization is a process in progress, but that we lack the financial component. That financial component to be successful it must be as cheap as the communications or submissions after the invention and expansion of the Internet. This is what Larsen is retaining the globalization. Innovations in transport and communications allow entrepreneurs anywhere in the world to reach customers, and ship products in a cost effective manner. But to pay global suppliers and receive payments across borders remains a slow and expensive process.
Additional comments
Some other comments that can be found in this interview is that Chris does not believe that the systems PoW will be the “gods” of the global financial system. In addition, he mentioned what he believes should be improved in the industry currently, like for example the use of energy.
“It is increasingly unacceptable politically to adopt technologies that are adding so much CO2 to a planet that can no longer stand and need to go in the other direction”.
Finally, he was asked about his favorite memory in his years in the industry. Before this, Larsen replied that one of the most memorable was when Marqueta allowed to load XRP to their cards in 2014. Specifically, what Chris found cool was upload XRP to the card and go to the gas station and fill your car with using the criptomoneda.
Conclusion
In general, the steering of Ripple maintains the idea that the technology Blockchain and the cryptocurrencies can help to deliver the final key element of the globalization inclusive. It also argues that the idea is not to revolutionize and burn what is already existing, but to look how to include it and make it attractive, to grow and to improve what is already existing.