EX-Ripple Director Says Ripple is in Dilemma in Response to xSPECTAR Planned Exit from XRPL

A former Ripple Director spotlights funding challenges within the XRP ecosystem in light of xSPECTAR’s intention to exit XRPL due to lack of support.

Matt Hamilton, former Director of Developer Relations at Ripple, has expressed his views on the recent allegation of neglect against Ripple, shedding light on the funding and support issues within the XRP ecosystem.

In a tweet, Hamilton discussed the conundrum of funding decentralization while having most of the funds controlled by a single entity, Ripple. He mentioned the XRP Ledger Foundation (XRPLF) as an initiative to address such issues but noted its relative dormancy.

It is a tough conundrum and something I wrestled with whilst I was there. The dichotomy of wanting funding to be decentralised but at the same time one entity has most of the funds. The XRPLF was meant to “solve” that in some way, but seems fairly dormant.

— Matt Hamilton (@HammerToe) July 6, 2023

Yet, Hamilton discussed the limitations of relying on public voting mechanisms, pointing out that such systems may not accurately represent stakeholders’ interests.

He cited examples from the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) era, where projects with more hype overshadowed potentially valuable ones. He emphasized the need for due diligence, acknowledging that different individuals may have contrasting opinions on what constitutes a worthwhile project.

The Bone of Contention

Notably, as The Crypto Basicreported, the discussion surrounding Ripple funding started when a prominent XRP influencer alerted the community about the possibility of an XRPL-based NFT project departing the ecosystem due to a lack of support from Ripple.

Dirk Schepens, the founder of the XRPL-based NFT project, xSPECTAR, had vented his frustration in a recent Twitter Space discussion about the lack of support for his project. He highlighted the financial burden of running a company with 50 employees without any recognition from Ripple.

Ripple in a Funding Dilemma

However, Hamilton noted that Ripple finds itself in a difficult situation, as funding excessively could be seen as market manipulation, particularly considering the ongoing SEC case.

“I think Ripple is in a tough situation as no matter what they do; there could be problems. If they fund too much, then that could be seen as influencing the market and probably not good with the SEC case,” the ex-director remarked.