XRP’s ’Decentralization’ Debate Heats Up as Skeptics Question Its True Nature

Ripple’s XRP faces fresh scrutiny as crypto purists challenge its decentralized credentials—while Wall Street quietly stacks bags for the next bull run.

Subheader: The Centralization Paradox

With over 60% of XRP’s supply still held by Ripple Labs, critics argue the token operates more like a corporate security than a true crypto asset. Yet institutional adoption keeps climbing—because nothing screams ’decentralization’ like hedge funds and payment processors calling the shots.

Subheader: Regulatory Tightrope

The SEC lawsuit may be settled, but the lingering question remains: Can a cryptocurrency designed for bank-friendly compliance ever shake its ’centralized’ reputation? Meanwhile, XRP whales couldn’t care less as they profit from the volatility.

Closer: In the end, decentralization is just a marketing buzzword—until the next audit reveals who’s really pulling the strings.

Garlinghouse calls for attention to blockchain energy usage

Garlinghouse said, “The Skull of Satoshi was originally built to call attention to blockchain energy usage, and today it’s a symbol and reminder of Bitcoin’s incredible staying power to many around the world (including me!).”

The statement sounds sarcastic because, in recent years, Bitcoin has used around 57.09 billion kWh per year. This is comparable to electricity usage in countries like Argentina or the Netherlands. On the other hand, XRP uses 474,000 kWh, a fraction of the energy used by Bitcoin.

Compared to Bitcoin, XRP’s energy consumption is 100,000 times smaller than Bitcoin’s per transaction.

Meanwhile, BTQ and Quandela have agreed to look into how photonic quantum computing can be used for BTQ’s Quantum Sampling Proof-of-Work (QSPoW). It is an alternative to Bitcoin’s standard SAFE mining model that uses less energy.

Users question XRP’s decentralized nature

The public nature of the payments firm has raised an interlinked question of Ripple’s centralized leadership and XRP’s supposed decentralized model.  A user asked on X why Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is the face of XRP, given XRP’s claim to being a decentralized crypto asset. “I don’t see the same arrangement with BTC,” they said.

Chief Technology Officer of Ripple, David Schwartz, jumped in right away to calm people down and give a full explanation. Schwartz brought up the fact that Garlinghouse is the CEO of the company Ripple. But “XRP has no issuer,” adding that all XRP tokens were made when the XRP Ledger first came out.

The CTO of the payments company also talked about decentralization, which is one of the most important ideas in the crypto world. Schwartz also said that people worried about XRP Ledger’s decentralized model should focus less on meanings and more on what they want from decentralization.

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