Today the main topic of our video will be the company Ripple and its cryptocurrency XRP. It’s not about what plans Ripple has, why they need their own cryptocurrency, whether they should wait for Tuzemoon, and whether they are afraid of Facebook’s cryptocurrency.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz answered these and other questions. We will present the main points from his interview with the popular business publication Fortune.
What is Ripple?
Let's start our review with a very simple question, namely, what is Ripple? You, dear reader, may be indignant, because it’s already clear what it is. But apparently the Fortune representative decided to clarify, and we were really interested in the answer from the company’s technical director.
Ripple is a fintech project focused on international payments. Their goal is to make financial services more convenient, secure and faster, because the current banking system is far from perfect and can and should be improved.
Please note that not a word has been said about the XRP cryptocurrency, but let’s move on, maybe it’s just not the time yet.
External links [edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Schwartz . |
- David Schwarz in the catalog of the German National Library
- Linked Library of Congress authority file for David Schwartz
- Sukur, Ante. "The Airship of David Schwartz". Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- Sukur, Ante (2008). "David Schwartz's Airship / Airship Construction and Testing". Archived from the original on May 6, 2008.
- Schwartz airship
| Authoritative control |
|
Why is there no mass adoption of XRP?
Ripple XRP
Next, the technical director of Ripple was asked about the lack of mass adoption of the XRP token and he talked about a product called xCurrent. In case anyone has forgotten, it does not use cryptocurrency.
David Schwartz explained that when they entered the payments market, they realized how ineffective the current system of interbank transfers, the same SWIFT, was. But banks do not want to work with digital assets because they need to change their usual system and there is a risk of encountering problems with legislative regulation. Therefore, Ripple offered them an alternative, more advanced payment system in the form of xCurrent.
That is, realizing that banks in general do not need cryptocurrency, Ripple made a service for them that is familiar and at the same time better than the existing payment system. It was necessary to somehow enter the market and here is the solution, they are great here. It’s really not clear, if their service is so much better, then why only a few use it, while the rest continue to use SWIFT?
Links[edit]
- ^ abc Entry by David Schwartz on the Virtual International Authority File, OCLC
- ^ ab Ernst Heinrich Hirschel, Horst Prem, Gero Madelung, Aeronautical Research in Germany: From Lilienthal to the Present
, "Controlled Airship - Airship", pp. 24-25. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2004, ISBN 978-3-540-40645-7 (e-book ISBN 978-3-642-18484-0) - ^ ab "Books of Jewish Science and Technology: Personalities". Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ^ ab Hugo Eckener, Graf Zeppelin: The Man and His Work
, translated by Lee Fanell, pages 155-157, 210-211. London - Massie Publishing Company, Ltd. - 1938 (ASIN: B00085KPWK) (online extract) - "13. siječnja 1897. The amazing David Schwartz died." hrvatski-vojnik.hr
(in Croatian). Hrvatski vojnik. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. - "David Schwartz". hakave.org
(in Croatian). Hrvatsko kulturno vijeće. - "David Schwartz". Državno povjerenstvo Republike Hrvatske
(in Croatian). drzavno2012.pgsri.hr. - "DAVID SCHWARZ - nezasluženo u sjeni Zeppelina". hrvatski-vojnik.hr
(in Croatian). Hrvatski vojnik. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. - ^ abc Keith 1995, Chapter II / Early airships and their development to the present day / Germany
- he had begun work at least by 2 May 1892, when the Russian War Ministry agreed to allow him to build it there, after the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry had rejected it. Dooley 2004, A.183 citing Robinson 1984, p. 2
- Dooley 2004, A.184, citing Robinson 1984, p. 1 and Berg 1926. Berg and Schwartz signed the contract on August 23, 1893.
- ^ a b Dooley 2004, A.185.
- Jump up
↑ Robinson 1973, pp. 6-7 - Dooley 2004, A.186. On December 16, 1894, Berg signed a contract with the royal Prussian government, in which he was the builder and Schwartz the designer. Berg and Schwartz signed the contract on December 21, 1894.
- Duley 2004, A.186-A.187 Fig. 18. Battalion engineer Tenser and engineers Berg made the drawings shown in Figure 18 entitled Luftschiff David Schwartz Das Erste Luftschiff de starren system, erbaut von Commerzienrat Karl Berg.
- Dooley 2004, A.187.
- Dooley 2004, A.186, in the battalion's Prussian airship hangar.
- Keith 1995; Dooley 2004, A.184. Accounts vary: George Whale wrote that it was built by the Berlin firm of Weisspfennig and Watzesch, and Sean Dooley quotes American airship historian Douglas Robinson as saying the work was carried out by Berg's engineers.
- Eckhard Troksdr., 2000. “Objektliste.pdf list of exhibits from the now obsolete website of the Museum Traum von Fliegen” (PDF). Archived from the original on September 2, 2003. Retrieved September 6, 2022. CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- Sucur, Ante (2004). "David Schwartz's Airship / Airship Construction and Testing". Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- rr0.org quotes the Zagreb daily Obzor.
- Mentschl Ch. p. 429 German: Ein erster Füllungsversuch im Herbst brachte Allerdings ein unbefriedigendes Ergebnis, da sich das verwendete Wasserstoffgas als ungeeignet erwies. S. erlebte den Flug seiner Erfindung nicht mehr. Erst im November 1897 fand
- Rosencrantz, Hans (1931). Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin: die Geschichte eines Abenteuerlichen Lebens
. Ulstein. paragraph 58. - Jump up
↑ Seifert, Karl-Dieter (2007).
"Schwartz, David". Neue Deutsche Biographie 23
. pp. 805–806. Retrieved August 30 +2016. - Dooley 2004, A.191.
- Jump up
↑ Robinson 1973, p. 6 - Dooley 2004, A.192.
- ^ab Schnitzler writes that Jagels was a completely inexperienced airshipman, a former Prussian non-commissioned officer.
- Dooley 2004, A.193.
- Dooley 2004, A.183.
- Eckhard Trox 2000, Museen der Stadt Lüdenscheid German press release archived July 18, 2011 at the Wayback Machine, and book: ISBN 978-3-929614-43-5
- "extended from March 4, 2001" . Archived from the original on December 10, 2002. Retrieved June 16, 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Why do you need XRP?
Then David Schwartz was asked directly why they needed the XRP cryptocurrency if they had already made their own analogue of SWIFT. To which the technical director of Ripple explained that banks are very conservative, but other payment services are not bound by such strict regulatory rules. They prioritize speed, processing costs and payment availability. This is exactly what the second xRapid product was developed for.
The idea is to offer a payment solution for companies that need to solve problems on the ground. For example, organize payments in regions where there is no developed banking system. Using XRP, you can create a regional hub that will provide liquidity for remittances.
By this logic, it turns out that dreams that all banks will switch to using the Ripple cryptocurrency and it will almost become a new reserve currency are nothing. Because the XRP token, according to its creators, is initially promoted as an additional tool not for the banking system.
Bibliography[edit]
- Berg, Dr. Karl. (1926). David Schwartz - Karl Berg - Count Zeppelin: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Luftschiffahrt
. Munich: Eigenverlag. - Ch. Menschl: "Schwarz David." In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950
(ÖBL). Vol. 11, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2803-7, pp. 429 f. (Direct links to » page 429 «, » page 430 «) - Dooley, Sean S. (2004). "Part II: Applications" (PDF). Development of a material-adapted structural form (PDF) (Dissertation). École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 25, 2008.
- Robinson, Douglas H., Giants in the Sky
. Henley-on-Thames: Foulis, 1973 ISBN 0-85429-145-8 - Robinson, Douglas H. (March 1984). “Book Review 'Daivd [sic] Schwarz: Tragödie des Erfinders: Zur Geschichte des Luftschiffes. Von Zvi Rotem, Limited Edition Manuscript, 1983." Floating flight
. Akron, Ohio, USA: Lighter Than Air Society. - Schnitzler, Norbert. 2000. WWW-Tipp der Woche 24/2000 (German summary of the museum exhibition).
- Keith, George (1995). British airships, past - present - future
. BiblioBazaar (published October 26, 2007). ISBN 1-4264-0074-8. (also 1996 Gutenberg version)
XRP volatility
XRP price
Another important issue was the volatility of XRP, because if it is used for payments, will the money depreciate on the way from the sender to the recipient? To this, David Schwartz responded confidently and immediately that transferring using Ripple coins takes seconds and in such a short period of time nothing critical will happen to their price.
I'll explain in more detail. The xRapid service works as follows, for example, from the USA to Russia you need to transfer money, then first in the USA dollars are exchanged for XRP, then they are sent to the Russian hub, where the tokens are immediately exchanged for rubles upon receipt and then the client can come for the money.
Thus, the entire operation takes seconds, and not hours or even days, as is the case today with international transfers. And the volatility of XRP will not interfere with this process either, because despite the seemingly huge jumps in the exchange rate, practically nothing actually happens in the few seconds of payment processing.
This explanation is both good and bad, especially for those who believe in the native Ripple. Because in this scheme, the XRP token performs a purely service function, it is a means of moving, not storing value. That is, money is not stored in the Ripple cryptocurrency, and payment systems that use this technology do not care about the cost of XRP.
I will add that when he was directly asked about the price of XRP, our hero began to tell all sorts of nonsense about the market, rate speculation, other assets, and so on. He actually avoided the question and did not say a word that Ripple would try to pump up the price of XRP. Didn’t want to share secret plans or they simply don’t have them?
First thoughts about the airship[edit]
Schwartz first became interested in airships in the 1880s. This happened while he was working away from home, observing deforestation. Since the work took longer than planned, he asked his wife to send him books to while away the evenings. Among them was a textbook on mechanics. Although Schwartz was excited, it is not certain that this inspired him to create his own airship. His timber business suffered as a result of his obsession, and like other aviation pioneers, his project was ridiculed. Nevertheless, his wife Melanie supported him. Schwartz proposed aluminum, then a very new material, for construction.
Decentralization of XRP
Another pressing issue concerns the decentralization of the Ripple cryptocurrency. Here David Schwartz gave the standard excuse that the network is decentralized, but at the same time he named some very interesting numbers.
According to him, the XRP blockchain is supported by more than 100 validators, and only 5 of them are controlled by Ripple, and all decisions within the network are made by reaching consensus. If this is actually the case, then we can only be happy for this blockchain. Not decentralization, of course, but for example, there are several times more validators than the EOS cryptocurrency.
Ripple's CTO explained that there is nothing wrong with his company holding the majority of XRP coins. He drew a parallel with states that allocate the budget and actually own the majority of their national currency.
And here - stop. As for the validators in the XRP network, this is all interesting and you can even believe it. But recently Ripple presented an update to the blockchain and the media reported that any validator who does not update the software will be thrown out of the network. So this is direct centralization, especially if you add the information that in order to comply with the new rules of international regulation of cryptocurrency, Ripple decided to monitor all transactions on the XRP network.
As for the example with the state, it also does not stand up to criticism. Any state is a centralized governing body and if Ripple identifies itself with a state where XRP is the currency. So what kind of decentralization are we talking about?
The first airship in Russia[edit]
Having developed a project for an all-metal airship, Schwartz then proposed his ideas to the Minister of War of Austria-Hungary. There was some interest, but the government was not willing to provide financial support.
The Russian military attaché, a technically educated man, advised Schwartz to demonstrate his airship in St. Petersburg, where an airship was built in 1893 using Schwartz's ideas. [9] [10] Schwartz, and later his widow, assumed that test flights would also be carried out there, but this did not happen. He began construction in late 1892, when industrialist Carl Berg provided aluminum and the necessary financing. [eleven]
Problems arose during refueling: the frame collapsed while inflating. [9] Schwartz apparently wanted the metal shell to contain the gas directly without internal gas cylinders. Russian engineer Kovanko noted that the absence of a ballonet would cause stress on the skin during ascent and descent. [12] In addition, the skin was not sealed, [13]
Technical characteristics of the first airship: [12]
- Power: 298 kg (657 lb) four-cylinder engine producing 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) at 480 rpm.
- Volume: 3,280 m3 (116,000 cu ft)
- Empty weight: 2,525 kg (5,567 lb)
- Gross Lift: 958 kg (2,112 lb)
- Ballast and fuel: 170 kg (370 lb)
- Equipment and three people: 385 kg (849 lb)
- Net weight: 85 kg (187 lb)
The circumstances of Schwartz's return are unclear; There were reports of a hasty departure from Russia. [ citation needed
]
Famous works[edit]
- Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, USA
- Globe Life Park in Arlington in Arlington, Texas, USA
- Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Palladium at the Performing Arts Center in Carmel, Indiana, USA
- Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, USA
- Downtown Wheel of Fire in Garland, Texas, USA
- Fort Worth Public Library in Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- West Village in Dallas, Texas, USA
- Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas
- Ed Smith Stadium (renovation) in Sarasota, Florida
- ESPN Wide World Sports Complex in Baileyke, Florida
- George Dean Johnson Jr., College of Business Administration and Economics, University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina
- Southlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas
- Sundance Square Plaza in Fort Worth, Texas
- Tarrant County Family Law Center in Fort Worth, Texas
- Yale Environmental Science Center in New Haven, Connecticut
- E. Bronson Ingram College at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee [12]
