30th July 2023 > > Ripple survey.

tl;dr

Ripple issues an interesting survey, which may not be impartial.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

That’s almost a full house of “unch” which has only ever happened once before. And don’t blame it on the weekend – the only metric above that does not trade on Saturday and Sunday are 10-year treasuries.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Ripple report

Ripple, issuer of XRP (Ripple), has released a survey of 300 “Global Payments Leaders” across 45 countries:

https://ripple.com/reports/Blockchain_and_Crypto_in_Payments.pdf

It’s only 16 pages long, but as always, the CCC research team will do the legwork for you. After all, what else could one constructively achieve on a sunny Sunday morning in the mountains beside a beautifully calm loch?

…

The first point to make is that Ripple cannot be described as an impartial observer. This may well have influenced the questions they asked, and the phrasing of those questions. Nonetheless, some of the responses make for interesting reading.

“97% of respondents believe blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will have a significant or very significant role in enabling faster payments within the next three years.”

The prospect for reducing the cost of cross-border payments is estimated at $10bn. Which is a disappointingly low number. Cross-border transactions are estimated to exceed $156 TRILLION by 2030. $10bn is a mere 0.01% of that total. I suspect that figure is an under-estimation of gigantic proportions, but only time will tell.

“Over 50% of surveyed leaders believe that most merchants will accept crypto payments within one to three years.”

That’s a bit more like it. I can only assume that if a “Global Payments Leader” believes cryptos will become this ubiquitous that they are working on developing their own means of incorporating cryptos into their daily workflows.

Note the tiny proportion of “Never”. Ostrich heads and sand spring to mind for these benighted few.

“For payment providers, regulatory clarity remains a primary hurdle to go-to-market efforts. When given the option for multiple responses, almost one-third of participants cited regulatory clarity exclusively—indicating no other perceived barriers to using blockchain for payments.”

This conclusion comes as no surprise to the CCC community.

“Nearly every respondent (98%) acknowledged the environmental impact associated with blockchain use. Of these, 71% share that low energy consumption is very important, while 19% note that it is somewhat important.”

The old environmental debate, which we have touched upon many times, most recently just four days ago (https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/26th-july-2023-btc-mining-and-africa).

A continued focus on improving the environmental footprint of BTC and other cryptos is patently a good thing. Perhaps there should also be focus on improving the environmental footprint of Netflix, video gaming, clothes dryers, and Christmas lights (amongst many other examples), all of which individually use more energy than BTC.

“100% of respondents agree there are benefits of blockchain and crypto in payments.”

That’s yah boo sucks then to the naysayers who claim there is no utility behind cryptos and that it is all just one big Ponzi scheme.