Olympic Games– Ripple (XRP) has in recent weeks made headlines in the crypto industry for a wide range of achievements, from hosting a top notch SWELL conference, to rolling out great initiative programs and a quick toggle with Ethereum for the second spot on coin market standings.
Its latest feat is the drive to become the official cryptocurrency of the 2020 Olympic Games as crypto and blockchain adoption keeps taking center stage. This Olympics initiative was kick started by Japanese resident Ken Takahashi ten months ago on Change.org (a popular petition hosting service) and despite its initial slow momentum, has over the past few days seen signatures supporting the petition increase exponentially.
At the time of its first launch, the petition reached over 5k signatures towards a goal of 7,500; currently signatures stand at about 12k with its end goal raised to 15K. In a recent tweet, the petition is quoted to average an impressive 2 signatures per minute and looks set to ultimately exceed required limits for a most definite approval.
According to Takahashi’s petition in which he tags both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Ripple Labs, he posits that making Ripple the official crypto would promote ease of transactions at the games especially for international travelers to the host city of Tokyo. He argues that no other means or fiat currency can provide a better alternative to crypto.
He explained that tourists could transfer XRP to their accounts and subsequently exchange it for fiat without the need for traditional bank or exchange institutions; which ultimately would mean less wait time for transactions. Also the thrill of a faster mode of transactions would increase potential for more purchases and influx of money into Tokyo’s economy. In his words on the petition page, Takahashi opines:
As tourists stream into the country for the Olympic Games, demand for local currency skyrockets, causing long lines at the currency exchanges, as seen in past events like Beijing 2018 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. Confusing exchange rates and language barriers further complicate the problem.
The Ripple team on its part shows no signs of slowing down as its recent commercial launch of XRapid, a product designed for speedy cross-border financial transfers comes at no better perfect time than now. Tests on this product have passed speed and economical requirements with respect to reduced wait time on international transfers and cheaper transaction fees; as opposed to other available options.
Takahashi’s petition shows no sign of slowing down as the statistics keep exceeding goal regions; many view the newly launched XRapid by Ripple with low fees, top security and fast transactions as a potential alternative hence the corresponding pitch of more signatures.
However, even as many laud this move for adoption, mixed opinions still trail the Ripple coin and its development approach especially questions on whether the digital asset (XRP) is a cryptocurrency or security.
For a few analysts, it may be premature to adopt ripple as the Olympic Games choice crypto as they argue it is yet to gain huge popularity at the mainstream, others argue that the games are under two years away and lots of new projects in the ever booming crypto industry could emerge.
Do you hold Ripple (XRP)? What are your thoughts on its adoption?
