INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Jeremy HerronThe cryptocurrency widely known as Ripple is on a tear
Problem is, that’s not its actual name.
That would be XRP, a token created for use on the Ripple payment protocol back in 2012.
Confused
You’re not alone.
Ripple Labs Inc., where one of the creators of XRP serves as chief technology officer, insists on noting that the token
is different than the open-source network
Crypto Twitter is in a lather
And why not, the token was referred to early on as “ ripples (XRP).”
But really, there’s not that much to get worked up about
It’s all part of a branding effort by Ripple Labs, which owns about 60 per cent of XRP
The company even created a flow chart to help explain the differences.
(The company’s named after the Grateful Dead song
Let’s leave aside that, for a certain vintage of reader, it also invokes images of the fortified wine Fred Sanford sipped on TV in the
But Ripple Labs is bumping up against an age-old problem when it comes to branding -- forcing a change on the public isn’t exactly
easy.
Remember New Coke How about when PricewaterhouseCoopers tried to rename its consulting arm Monday Or ask any New Yorker what bridge
connects the Bronx with Manhattan and Queens and they’ll tell you the TriBoro
It’s officially been the Robert F
Kennedy Bridge for a decade.
Then there’s FedEx and 3M, both of which, um, chose to adopt the common shorthand for their longer formal
names.
Whatever Ripple Labs’ preference, a token by any other name would still be worth 59 cents.
