A recent episode of The Ripple Drop saw executives give their predictions on the state of the crypto world in 2020 and beyond.
Ripple Team Looks to the Future
Ripple has recently released a special holiday episode of ‘The Ripple Drop’, which looks back on the things that impacted the crypto and blockchain industry over the course of the last ten years. However, with 2020 being only a few days away, the episode also saw Ripple officials give their predictions for the future. But, they also talked about 2019 itself, sharing their thoughts and impressions of the past 12 months.
One of the biggest ‘surprises’ that 2019 has brought was the announcement of Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency, Libra. According to Global Institutional Markets’ Vice President, Breanne Madigan, Libra caught the world off-guard, and it captured everyone’s attention. It also increased the pressure on the governments of the world to add some greater effort to regulating crypto and blockchain.
However, Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, recently stated that he doesn’t expect Libra to launch before 2023, which is significantly longer than what most people are expecting.
Meanwhile, Marcus Treacher, the SVP of Customer Success, stated that RippleNet saw a record growth, which was a big surprise to him. Monica Long, the SVP of Marketing, had a similar reaction to customer adoption of On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) that RippleNet is offering.
Of course, 2019 was only a single year in a nearly 11-years-long history of crypto and blockchain. The past decade had countless moments that transformed these industries forever. For Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, that was the moment he learned of Bitcoin. For the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, that was when he saw the CEO of MoneyGram, Alex Holmes, praise ODL.
What will 2020 bring?
Finally, the company’s officials addressed the future, giving their predictions of what’s to come.
In this episode of the #RippleDrop, members of our executive team, including CEO @bgarlinghouse, reflect on the impact of #blockchain technology and digital assets over the past decade and what’s ahead for 2020. https://t.co/CfWlahfYAp pic.twitter.com/jXJPS64vNO
— Ripple (@Ripple) December 26, 2019
Brad Garlinghouse seems to firmly believe that the number of living crypto projects is going to start dropping from 2020 onward. He said that ‘You don’t need 3000 plus cryptocurrencies out there.’
Instead, he expects that utility will bear out, and that people will move towards quality coins, with proper technologies, the ability to scale, and real use cases. Schwartz echoed his sentiment, with the belief that these technologies can find new use cases and solve real problems.
Ripple executives were also quite bullish regarding the impact of blockchain and crypto in the long term. Xpring’s SVP, Ethan Beard, stated that the technology might replace the underpinnings of the financial industry. Meanwhile, Asheesh Birla, SVP of Product Management, has similar arguments for crypto and blockchain tech, stating that people seem to be underestimating the impact and long-term implications of blockchain.
Marcus Treacher also mentioned that he believes that the Internet of Value will be reached in the next 10 years and that Ripple’s work is setting the stage for the major shift in the entire world’s financial system.
Do you agree with the predictions of Ripple’s executives? Let us know what you expect to happen in 2020 in the comments below.
Image via Shutterstock, Twitter @Ripple