XRP Ledger (XRPL) developer Panos has broken his silence on what he identifies as the blockchain's biggest problem: poor marketing and exposure. In a detailed commentary, Panos argued that XRPL's pioneering innovations in DeFi-like features, speed, and scalability were overshadowed by Ethereum's success in popularizing terms like "DeFi" and "smart contracts." He emphasized that from the start, XRPL failed to effectively communicate its technical strengths to developers, investors, and users, causing the network to fly under the radar while competitors built massive hype.
Panos further criticized the branding confusion surrounding the ecosystem. He noted that the evolution from OpenCoin to Ripple Labs, and the overlapping names for the company (Ripple), the token (XRP), and the blockchain (XRPL), has created significant identity muddle. "People often confuse Ripple Labs with XRP (the token) and XRPL (the blockchain)," he stated, even mocking the names "XRP" and "XRP Ledger" as unattractive and advocating for a major rebranding to improve adoption.
This analysis comes alongside a week of significant, yet price-unresponsive, developments for XRP and Ripple. Crypto analyst Chain Cartel highlighted four major events that have failed to lift XRP's price from its downtrend around $2.0. These include: rumors of a collaboration between Ripple and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to integrate Amazon Bedrock AI for analyzing XRPL system logs, drastically reducing processing time from days to minutes; Ripple's UK subsidiary securing registration with the strict Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a major compliance milestone; a partnership with The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), where Ripple Prime is among the first users of BNY Mellon's new tokenized deposit services, with BNY Mellon also serving as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD; and the upcoming January 15 vote on the CLARITY Act by the US Senate Banking Committee, which could shape future crypto regulation.
Cartel suggested the market is overlooking these structural, long-term infrastructure builds in favor of short-term hype. He described XRP's current state as a "compression before a violent release," implying a potential sharp price rally once these foundational systems are fully operational. Meanwhile, on the technical front, key XRP Ledger fix amendments—including TokenEscrow, AMMClawback, Multi-Purpose Tokens, and Price Oracle—are reportedly nearing their activation timer.
