XRP

[yader]

Digital or encrypted currency as a form of investment has not gained much traction as a traditional form of investment.  I believe this will change in the next 5-10 years.  We'll begin to see institutions, banks, governments, and individual investors begin holding these assets as forms of investments, hedges against inflation, and for use in daily commerce.

This initial post will be a short introduction of what I have been buying, XRP, the cyrptocurrency of Ripple.  Ripple aims to be the financial bridge of banking transactions.  It is secure, decentralized (although it can have private networks), and fast.  Here is the white paper https://ripple.com/files/ripple_consensus_whitepaper.pdf

As central banks create CBDCs Ripple stands to be the choice solution for conducting business.  

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/search/html/central_bank_digital_currencies_cbdc.en.html 

Much of the uncertainty in the sector comes from a large amount of new "currencies" with no utility, and the extreme hype of the sector.  It's the same thing as the dot com bubble.  Tons of new websites went up with huge promises that failed miserably due to no utility.  But there were a few that fundamentally changed business, like a tiny online bookstore.  I think Ripple is the tiny online bookstore of DeFi (decentralized finance).  

In following posts I'll bring up other issues such as Ripple's moat, competitors, costs, SEC lawsuit, and others.  Beat me to them!

Disclosure: Long XRP.  It's the only crypto I own.

 

[yader]

Here is a cryptocurrency course taught by Gary Gensler at MIT.  This is a good resource for those looking to learn more about cryptocurrency's impact on finance in general.

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s12-blockchain-and-money-fall-2018/

Edited May 1, 2021 by yader