Ripple's CEO Criticizes Bitcoin, Claims XRP is 1000 Times Faster

The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, recently criticized Bitcoin during a presentation attended by representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Swiss National Bank. Speaking at this prominent event, he openly criticized the performance of Bitcoin, calling it slow and expensive. He explained that Bitcoin has issues when it comes to fast and cheap transactions. "Bitcoin today, in terms of transactions, is quite slow and quite expensive," Garlinghouse said. He compared it to XRP, which he stated is "a thousand times faster and a thousand times cheaper." Garlinghouse stated that XRP was created by engineers who studied Bitcoin and "identified some shortcomings of Bitcoin and the scalability challenges surrounding Bitcoin as it is currently, fundamentally, quite slow and quite expensive per transaction." He talked about how banks now need to hold money in different countries so they can send international payments. This process is called pre-funding and it ties up a lot of money. He stated that XRP can help alleviate this issue as it allows money to move instantly using digital assets. He explained that with the current system, financial institutions are forced to hold money in different countries to send international payments. The CEO of Ripple stated that XRP could replace this outdated system by acting as a bridge currency. Garlinghouse also spoke about currencies that are often overlooked by major banks. He stated, "Some strange currencies that are not quoted, strange corridors, have been left to stand on their own." He believes that XRP can help these currencies connect more with the financial system. In his presentation, Garlinghouse shared Ripple's long-term goal: "Ripple's vision from the beginning has truly been to apply these technologies in the same way that TCP/IP and HTTP are the technologies that support the information Internet." He continued that XRP technology and blockchain could power the "Internet of Value," allowing payments to move "like the flow of information today." He provided an example of how XRP could help people in real life. "If you are a large corporation transferring 100 million dollars, that is one thing," he said. "But if you are a freelancer in the Philippines doing design work for a company in London and you want to get paid 30 dollars for 30 pesos, then that's not a transaction that can be easily executed." A video copy of this presentation has been shared on X and received mixed reactions. One user stated, "The speed of XRP may be impressive, but the security and decentralization of Bitcoin still prevail. Scalability is a challenge, certainly, but the roadmap of BTC is evolving." Another user countered that claim by citing "How many companies are buying #Xrp reserves? The user tweeted, "Is Brad still giving away XRP for free to boost adoption? The blind leading the blind."