Kraken Exchange Asks The Question: XRP Or Ripple?

Last week, cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken announced that it was launching Ripple margin trading. However, that was not the only bit that grabbed eyeballs. While announcing the news, Kraken asked the community as well as the company a question that has long plagued many in the community: Is it Ripples or XRP?In a tweet thread, the exchange in a response to a Twitter user said, “Ripple is (and was first) a payment protocol whose native currency is XRP. You could suggest the eponymous company change its name (again) to avoid ambiguity. The convention is <protocol><asset>, like: Ripple XRP, Ethereum ether, Bitcoin bitcoin, etc.”We are not calling for the company to change its name but that is the logical solution to the alleged confusion given that the protocol had the name before the company, OpenCoin, changed its name to Ripple Labs in 2015 and started referring to itself as just "Ripple".— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) December 29, 2018Of course, Ripple fanboys were none too pleased about this blatant ‘attack’ on their beloved cryptocurrency. One user said, “I’m a customer of yours. I take it as an #attack. I also see it as #unprofessional. Your logic is also flawed…it’s for all of the above that I shall not be using your platform again. I will also be sure to inform anyone in my network on/offline to not use you! #GoodJob ?”However, Kraken clarified that it was not attacking and merely seeking clarification. One user said, “XRP is the name of the digital asset utilised by Ripple for payment transfer liquidity. The term Ripple XRP is incorrect and should not be used as it is causing confusion. XRP stands alone without Ripple. It is time to get this right. XRP is XRP.”Answering one disgruntled user’s comment on how “Ripple is not XRP and XRP is not Ripple”, Kraken said, “One is a protocol (Ripple) and the other is the native currency of that protocol (XRP). It’s only confusing because Ripple Labs, Inc. (and others) refer to the company as “Ripple”.This is not the first time, questions about Ripple’s decentralization have been raised. Earlier in August, Brad Garlinghouse, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ripple had said, “Put simply, the XRP Ledger is based on an inherently decentralized, democratic, consensus mechanism — which no one party can control,” as reported by Crypto-News India.Liked what you read? Join us on Telegram