Panos Mekras, co-founder of Anodos Finance, has refuted the widespread belief that XRP was created for banks. In a social media post, he outlined the original intent of XRP and how its narrative has evolved.
XRP's Intended Purpose and Early History
Mekras explained that there is a misconception that XRP was created for banks and cross-border payments. He clarified that this narrative was driven by 'Bitcoin maxis.' According to him, XRP was designed to eliminate banks' monopoly and intermediaries. XRP was envisioned as a more efficient alternative to Bitcoin with functionalities like a decentralized exchange and tokenized assets. He detailed the development of XRP by three developers: David Schwartz, Arthur Britto, and Jed McCaleb. By June 2012, the XRP Ledger was live, although Ripple did not yet exist. Chris Larsen later joined the project, and Ripple Labs Inc. was formed.
Ripple's Early Vision and Shift in Focus
Mekras noted that Ripple Labs had no initial interest in collaborating with banks. Their vision was to create an open payments system and a peer-to-peer credit network on the XRP Ledger. However, by 2014, Ripple shifted focus towards working with the banking system. The aim was to enable smaller banks to compete with larger institutions and disrupt the SWIFT cartel.
XRP’s Role in Decentralized Finance
Mekras reiterated that the XRP Ledger was built for decentralized finance, mainly aiming at individuals and businesses wanting alternatives to traditional banking. He emphasized that XRP was designed to reduce high fees, transaction delays, and censorship by centralized entities. Mekras stated that any contrary opinion is either misguided or intentionally misleading.
Panos Mekras challenges the traditional perception of XRP's purpose, asserting that it was initially designed to disrupt conventional financial systems and support decentralized finance.
