Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently bashed Bitcoin during a presentation attended by representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Swiss National Bank. Speaking at the high-profile event, he openly criticized Bitcoin’s performance, calling it slow and costly.
He explained that Bitcoin has problems when it comes to making transactions quickly and cheaply. “Bitcoin today, per transaction basis, is rather slow and rather expensive,” Garlinghouse said. He compared it to XRP, which he said is “a thousand times faster and a thousand times cheaper.”
Garlinghouse said XRP was created by engineers who had studied Bitcoin and “seen some of the flaws of Bitcoin and the challenges of scalability around Bitcoin where Bitcoin today, per transaction basic, is rather slow and rather expensive.”
He talked about how banks currently need to hold money in different countries so they can send payments internationally. This process is called pre-funding, and it ties up a lot of money. He said XRP can help get rid of this problem because it allows money to move instantly using digital assets.
He explained that with the current system, financial institutions are forced to keep money in different countries to send payments internationally. The Ripple CEO said XRP could replace this outdated system by acting as a bridge currency
Garlinghouse also spoke about currencies that are often ignored by big banks. “Some of the more quote-unquote exotic currencies, exotic corridors, have been left to stand on their own,” he said. He believes XRP can help these currencies become more connected to the financial system.
During his presentation, Garlinghouse shared Ripple’s long-term goal: “Ripple’s vision from the beginning really has been to apply these technologies in the same way that TCP/IP and HTTP are the technologies underpinning the Internet of Information.”
He continued that XRP and blockchain technology could power an “Internet of Value,” allowing payments to move “like information flows today.” He gave an example of how XRP could help people in real life.” If you are a large corporation moving $100 million, that’s one thing,” he said. “But if you are a freelancer working in the Philippines doing design work for a company in London and you want to get paid $30 for 30 pesos, that’s not a transaction that can easily be enabled.”
A video copy of this presentation was shared on X, and it got a mix of reactions. One user said “XRP’s speed might be impressive but Bitcoin’s decentralized security & adoption still dominate. Scalability’s a challenge, sure, but BTC’s roadmap is evolving.”
Another user countered that statement citing “How many companies are buying #Xrp reserves? The user tweeted “Brad is still giving away XRP for free to gain adoption? The blind leading the blind.”
Also Read: Meta Says No to Bitcoin Treasury, Is Ripple’s XRP on Cards?
