Nobody has a perfect crystal ball when attempting to divine the future direction of the economy.

But one leading indicator is closely correlated with economic downturns: The sales of recreational vehicles.

And sales are down.

Another fact I didn't know in relation to this topic? Most RVs in the United States come from Elkhart County in Indiana.

Starting in the mid-1930s, several trailer manufacturers set up shop there, drawing the suppliers to locations that were closer and more profitable; the trend built on itself that way, attracting even more manufacturers, until the county had a near-monopoly on RV production.

In any event, RV sales are declining, and this is universally regarded as an indicator of what's to come for the overall economy in the United States.

Demand and Volume

Will the demand for digital assets increase during an economic downturn, or will it decrease? What about payment volume as people act to buy more or sell more?

This question reflects a mystery that many in the cryptomarket disagree about: Does the demand for digital assets - and XRP - move directly or inversely?

Thus far, the cryptomarket hasn't been measured against any significant downturn or recession. However, it's inevitable that we'll see this eventually, and we can look at some anecdotal evidence for what to expect.

Safe Havens

During times of economic turmoil, the demand for so-called 'safe haven' assets increases.

These safe-haven assets have historically included gold, silver, and precious metals. They also include state-issued debt instruments and cash itself.

But low - or even negative - interest rates have lowered the popularity of storing value in a bank account. And the value of bonds and debt instruments is also problematic because of the amount of time involved. Investors typically don't plan on investing in a multi-year bond or annuity just to hedge against a temporary six-month downturn, for example.

So what about digital assets?

The laughable characterization of Bitcoin as 'digital gold' may prove to be tragic, as cryptocurrencies will ultimately be judged according to their utility, not because of the nonsensical use case of 'storing value.'

My guess is that, if investors wish to use cryptocurrencies as a safe haven asset, they'll opt to chose one that exhibits the strongest utility and value based on its performance capabilities and liquidity. Only XRP rises to heights that eclipse the value proposition from other choices in the cryptomarket.

XRP has, by a very wide margin, the most powerful and effective championing organizations, the most modern technology, the most robust set of features, and the most interoperable ecosystem of surrounding tools.

XRP is the obvious candidate for retail investors looking to augment their stock-heavy portfolio with an entirely different asset class; an asset class that may just serve as a refuge for investors in a financial crisis.

Ripple News

Ripple just published a very helpful post on Insights, their web page for blog posts. The article describes how xRapid works, but interestingly enough, it doesn't use the label 'xRapid.' Instead, the author consistently chose to use the synonym 'On-Demand Liquidity,' which is also how the website location of the prior xRapid content was rebranded at some point.

It's one of those marketing changes that probably has a convincing reason; and it is definitely xRapid that the article describes.

Regardless of the label for the software solution, the paper does an excellent job of describing how xRapid works, and answers some of the questions that are most frequently asked about the process.

The concept of how XRP saves money via its use as a bridge asset is described using a concept diagram:

Another noteworthy point about the article is that it emphasizes the elimination of the need for Nostro - vostro accounts:

"𝘈𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 (𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳) 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴."

The blog also explains that there is little-to-no volatility risk associated with the way this transaction dynamically sources liquidity at exchanges:

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘟𝘙𝘗, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘟𝘙𝘗 𝘓𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦."

In addition to confronting any concern over volatility, the author also points out that, ultimately, the cost savings of using XRP will power Ripple's solution to higher levels of adoption:

"𝘉𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 54% 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

It's this last part that is the most important, ultimately, to remittance processors. Real-time settlement is very important, and XRP delivers on that with real-time settlement; and equally important is the cost savings that using XRP can provide to banks and remittance processors.

OECD

Ripple sent three representatives to the OECD's latest meeting, which took place from September 12ᵗʰ to September 13ᵗʰ in Paris, France.

Ripple sent the following individuals to the assemblage:

• Breanne Madigan, Head, Global Institutional Markets, Ripple
• Liz Chien, Vice President of Global Tax and Chief Tax, Ripple
• Marjan Delatinne, Global Head of Banking, Ripple

All of them participated in separate panel discussions that targeted areas of expertise for each individual. And just days later - which is relatively quick for conferences - the OECD published videos of each of the panel discussions.

The OECD chose to publish the videos on their own site for direct download; they were then uploaded onto YouTube by an XRP Fan, The Crypto News Outlet (YouTube Channel):

Session: 'Can Blockchain Technology Reduce the Costs of Remittances?'

The session 'Can Blockchain Technology Reduce the Costs of Remittances?' was facilitated by Robert Patalano, the Coordinator for the Committee on Financial Markets and the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs at the OECD.

If you want to skip ahead at some point to the portion that includes Breanne Madigan, it begins at around the twenty-five minute mark:

One of my favorite quotes was offered during her introduction:

Answer (Breanne Madigan): "... 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨."

Another fascinating point that I interpreted from her comments is that some traditional financial institutions are waiting to enter the larger cryptomarket until there is 'deeper liquidity.'

Over the last two years, we've seen billions in daily volume worldwide flow through digital assets; if this is what the market looks like without many of these traditional players, then it portends significant future growth.

Question (Robert Patalano): "... 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦; 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 .. 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 - 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴.

𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴; 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦?"

Answer (Breanne Madigan): "𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴); 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚., 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 - 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 - 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚., 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 ..."

In addition to commenting on regulatory compliance, she also discussed the challenges of opening up a new xRapid corridor in regards to liquidity, and how the process has eased with additional, opportunistic market makers in some of the partner exchanges.

It was a high-level panel discussion, and her informed description of xRapid addressed the topic title for the session.

Session: 'Digital Financial Marketplaces: New developments and regulatory responses in primary and secondary markets'

The session 'Digital Financial Marketplaces: New developments and regulatory responses in primary and secondary markets' was facilitated by Paul Horrocks, the Head of the Unit for Private Finance for Sustainable Development, and the Development Cooperation Directorate for the OECD:

Paul Horrocks provided an introduction where he emphasized the high costs of remittances, setting the stage for the panel topic. Marjan Delatinne covered quite a bit of material as part of her comprehensive introduction:

(Marjan Delatinne): "𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 ...

... 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺; 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 ... 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 (𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺). 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 (𝘊2𝘊); 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 (𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴."

In regards to Facebook's Libra whitepaper, she provided this comment:

"𝘞𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 ... 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 - 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵; 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 ...

... 𝘞𝘩𝘺 (𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵) 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 (𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯), 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥! 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥!

... 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵."

I really enjoyed her descriptions of correspondence banking as a 'sequence of liability' between the banks involved; it was an relate-able way to describe what happens on the ledger of each organization.

One thing I noticed: Like Breanne Madigan, Marjan Delatinne also emphasized the dual challenges of both liquidity and regulation. It sounds like Ripple is now focused organization-wide on the remaining obstructions for the Internet of Value.

Session: 'Tax and Blockchain: From tax administration to transparency and the tax treatment of digital financial assets'

The session 'Tax and Blockchain: From tax administration to transparency and the tax treatment of digital financial assets' was facilitated by Grace Perez-Navarro, the Deputy Director for the Center for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD:

In this panel discussion, Liz Chien was the first member to provide an introduction, and later, Grace Perez-Navarro asked her:

Question (Grace Perez-Navarro): "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘻 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴."

Answer (Liz Chien): "𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘺 ...

... 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰-𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴...

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦...

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, '𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰-𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 ... (𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺) 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰-𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯; 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮."

The panel also collectively noted that the public may be confused, because ironically, the only asset class that crypto cannot be based on, is a currency.

The irony increases based on the fact that many people have used them for small, immaterial purchases, not knowing that they are, essentially, disposing of a portion of their investment, and hence, required to report it at the end of the year.

Liz Chien's perspective probably has more to do with banks and remittance processors using digital assets, not individual retail shoppers.

The panel discussion was international in flavor due to the nature of the OECD and its focus, and the comments from each panelist may be a barometer of international direction for the tax regulation of digital assets. It was interesting that, when the facilitator asked all the panelists to indicate if 'one rule' or taxonomy should be used for tax treatment worldwide, the majority of the panelists raised their hand in agreement.

I honestly don't know what to think on that topic (international standardization of tax treatment of crypto), other than to say that standardization usually makes development more straightforward when it comes to software; this is why we have organizations like the IEEE and the W3C for technical topics.

If you're wondering whether or not to watch the three videos, I'd recommend that you set some time aside; even if there were no 'shocking points' revealed, the meeting is a guide for the direction that the OECD's member countries are heading.

Thanks to Janna One Trick (YouTube avatar) for the information about the OECD videos.

Coil

The biggest news story in crypto - and probably in fintech - of the last week, was the announcement of the $100 million dollar grant that was established to help fund content creators who are participating in the new 'web monetization' of the Internet.

It's a dramatic shift from some of the earlier announcements of investments by Ripple, Xpring, and Coil; it focuses on the individuals who are creating content from scratch, who are also wishing to fund their efforts through the new tools available as part of web monetization.

While Coil is not the only company, it is perhaps the most famous, and largest of the companies currently advocating for new web standards that will support dynamic browser-and-payment integration.

In total, three separate organizations are participating in this latest effort; Coil, the Mozilla Foundation, and Creative Commons are all set to provide their assistance with administering the grant.

The participants in this grant, more than almost anything else, reveal the perspective and vision of the founder of Coil, Stefan Thomas. At each significant turn, it seems like his innovations and creations seem to embody the 'spirit' of the Internet and the promise of technology to enable individuals and progressive causes. This idealism is reflected in the organizations that are party to this new fund.

Coil: You are probably already familiar with Coil if you are reading this; Coil is the business founded by Stefan Thomas and others, and its goal is to enable the monetization of the Internet using open-source, standards-based technology, paired with a new technology - Interledger - that supports interoperability between financial ledgers.

Mozilla: The organization that has evolved from its pre-year-2000 roots, when Netscape open-sourced its browser code. Since then, its flagship software product - the Firefox browser - has established itself as one of a handful of major browsers that actively compete for customers.

The inclusion of Mozilla didn't surprise me; that organization has been a part of the history of the web, and its evolution happened throughout the pioneering early days of open-source development. In addition to its famous Firefox browser, the Mozilla Foundation also has a variety of other products, including an email user interface.

My guess is that Coil is planning on working with a number of browsers, and that it chose Mozilla to work with on this grant because of the weight that the organization has when it comes to championing - and proving out - the open source development model, and the importance of open standards such as the ones promoted by the World Wide Web Consortium. Basically, I'm saying that Coil chose Mozilla because of its industry influence, not because they specifically like the browser; Coil wants to work with all browsers where possible.

Creative Commons: Founded in 2001, this is a nonprofit organization whose original goal was to promote a new kind of creative license that would enable sharing of ideas and content throughout the web.

Creative Commons was an interesting choice, and it's also a practical one. Coil's business model includes the goal of enabling monetization of content created by individuals. When it comes to matters of copyright, fair use, and open-source licenses, content platforms must be cognizant of the legal implications of their application or website.

Coil refers to Creative Commons in its terms of service, so it's not a surprise that it also chose to involve this organization in its ongoing effort to champion web monetization. User licenses are going to be an important factor in Coil's speed of adoption.

Summary Facts:
Name of Deal: Grant for the Web
Amount of Grant: $100 millions
Recipients: Content Creators
Participating Organizations: Coil, Mozilla, Creative Commons
Official Announcement Blog: Why We Are Giving Away $100m to Creators with Mozilla and Creative Commons

My Take

This is a phenomenal development in nearly every sense.

So often, I hear from those in the XRP Community about the amount of effort that goes into the creation of websites, videos, blogs, papers, graphics, and applications; but when it comes to community-sourced development and creations, there's no easy way to reward those involved. Granted, some applications may be used enough to result in a monetary reward for the developers, but that is the exception to the rule.

If this grant ends up supercharging the adoption of web monetization and helps to augment what has already become a trend, then it's good news for those of us that are early adopters.

There is a certain electricity to this latest deal.

It's all about creativity, and the channeling of the enormous energy already inherent in the XRP Community. The community is composed of individuals, remember, that tend to be 'out-of-the-box' creative thinkers that were astute enough to identify a possible investment opportunity when most of the world was still being educated on the very definition of a cryptocurrency.

We - the collective 'we' of the entire XRP Community - are composed of what seems to be to be relatively stubborn, determined, and analytical individuals, sprinkled with some people that are truly gifted at creating compelling content for others.

And this 'Grant for the Web' has the potential of tapping into that determination and creativity to plant our flag in the uncharted territory of web monetization.

Wild Guess

While I plan to do a deep dive on Coil's Grant for the Web soon in an individual topic-oriented post on their platform, I quickly arrived at the following conclusion:

Coil planned this 'Grant for the Web' either before or directly after the massive capital investment by Ripple of one billion XRP on August 15ᵗʰ.

This is evidenced by the fact that the Grant for the Web's official Twitter account was created in August, not in September, and by the fact that its official web site was fully built out - complete with a user forum - on the date of the official announcement.

While some of these announcements may look extemporaneous to people, it's obvious to me that Coil is following a sequence of steps that have been planned to emulate a tried-and-true adoption strategy.

Don't Underestimate This Announcement

One side effect of the 2018 bear market has been a proliferation of a certain type of 'learned helplessness' among some people who previously exhibited a high level of excitement for the Internet of Value and XRP. It can be frustrating when the larger market acts irrationally, but we must remind each other to remain steadfast, and to keep working diligently to support worldwide XRP adoption.

The 'Grant for the Web' announcement was a very loud proclamation by Coil for creators to 'jump aboard' the monetization train.

And believe me, this train is about to leave the station for a new destination; a metropolis far in the distance; a place where individuals are rewarded for their own creativity and where people don't have to trade their personal information for free services. It's where, for just a little bit of change in our pocket, we can have all the information and applications we want.

It's nothing less than the Internet itself, the way that it was first envisioned.

Congratulations to Coil, Mozilla, and Creative Commons on the 'Grant for the Web,' but even more so, congratulations to XRP fans, as this is a win that will directly - and immediately - benefit our community.

My Coil Recommendations

This week was overshadowed by the importance of the larger joint announcement about the 'Grant for the Web.' However, I've surveyed a few new titles at Coil, and have presented my latest recommendations as follows:

Author: NickelNDime@NickelnDime
Article: The 5 Best Tips For Beginners On Guitar!
Topic: music

Author: js13kGames@js13kGames
Article: All Web Monetized entries from js13kGames 2019!
Topic: monetization, gaming

Author: David Walsh@davidwalsh
Article: How to Not Minify Source with Webpack
Topic: programming

Author: Urban Samurai@UrbanSamurai
Article: Perfect Parenting
Topic: Inspirational

XRP News

Xumm is the name of the signing platform that XRPL Labs is building.

It's different than a wallet, although it possesses the classical functions of one; it's far more than that, as it also provides an interface for other developers and applications to interact with the user.

Essentially, it will operate as one central account where end-users can manage their XRP, and also decide if they'd like to approve requests for payment from external applications. In other words, it's a 'signing platform,' exactly as Wietse Wind describes it.

The team behind XRPL Labs first demo'd the application as part of the Dutch meetup earlier this year. And now, on September 17ᵗʰ, Wietse Wind sent out this communication that describes some of the recent development:

Each stage of development takes time, when it comes to creating a robust and effective application. With each passing day, we're edging closer to the 'delivery point' for a wide variety of Xpring projects like Xumm!

Account Splitter - Part Two

The idea of a Twitter-based account splitter is something that has energized the fund-raising for the Good Souls Group (GSG), the group of individuals in the XRP Community that raise funds for various charitable causes.

What's an account splitter?

The account splitter Twitter account for the GSG is this one: GSG_Charities@GoodXrp

Currently, I've configured my own XRP Tip Bot account to send six XRP to the 'splitter' account each day. The 'splitter' account (GSG_Charities@GoodXrp) will then take these six XRP and distribute them equally among the various charities. Here's what that looks like:

In this case, the splitter account has successfully distributed the XRP among each of the accounts.

It's a convenient way to give to 'all of the charities' all at once, without having to spell it out in a tweet.

Great Idea For XRP Community Sites

Some XRP Community fan sites draw in substantial numbers of fans.

Think about Wietse Wind's XRP Ledger Exposed. Or the XRP Toolkit. Or xrp.co. Or Wipple. Or any number of additional sites that have sprung up over the years to support XRP fans and fellow developers.

These sites have benefited from a substantial investment of time and energy by community members, and further, these sites require their owners to shell out money - normally once per month - to keep the sites going. These costs can be related to hosting services, licenses, or certificates.

To help defray these costs, a new account splitter will help.

As an example, if there was an easy way to donate one of your XRP to be divided among each of the community sites that need it, would you send them one? Most of us would send one XRP to this account, especially if we knew that it would be successfully split up and shared among all of the community website operators.

If you agree with this idea and would like to donate to the new splitter Twitter account, stay tuned!

@nixerFFM (the clever developer behind the XRP Tip Bot Statistics Tracker) has generously volunteered to build the new capability; no doubt you'll see this account being used on 'crypto-Twitter' as soon as it becomes operational.

XRP Forensics

We've seen an alarming number of scammers attempting to target XRP owners recently; and starting in early 2018, a small group of volunteer XRP Community members that call themselves 'XRP Forensics' has taken on the role of protecting others from possible harm.

In addition to prevention of thefts, the group has also helped track stolen XRP once it is reported. While the group's members are proficient at helping to identify parties and exchanges that are connected to a theft, along with the movement of funds by criminals, it's always preferable to prevent these crimes rather than investigate them afterwards.

Along the lines of prevention, the group sent out a number of warnings recently for people in the XRP Community to heed:

Here are the warnings from each of the previous tweets:

"𝘔𝘜𝘓𝘛𝘐𝘗𝘓𝘌 𝘚𝘊𝘈𝘔 𝘈𝘓𝘌𝘙𝘛: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮: 𝘹𝘳𝘱𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘨.\𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘹𝘳𝘱-𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.\𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘹𝘳𝘱-𝘨𝘦𝘵.\𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘹𝘳𝘱-𝘨𝘦𝘵.\𝘯𝘦𝘵

𝘞𝘈𝘙𝘕𝘐𝘕𝘎 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴2019.𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘳.𝘤𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴. 𝘋𝘖 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘌𝘕𝘋 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘟𝘙𝘗 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴.

@𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘳: 𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦."

Needless to say, it's wise to heed these warnings; and if you know of any friend or family member that needs to be warned, please do so.

I advise members of the XRP Community to conduct their own due diligence on any websites or services prior to using them. Unfortunately, crypto is still a new financial market, and as such, is also a tricky area for newbies to navigate safely.

It's a wise move to give XRP Forensics a 'follow' if you have not done so already.

XRP Choice Awards

You've heard of the People's Choice Awards, right?

For fans that don't tend to agree with critics or their recommendations, the People's Choice Awards provides an avenue for expressing those preferences. Originally, Gallup polls were used to gauge the winners of each category, and then eventually this was switched to online voting after the age of the Internet.

And now, as of September 16ᵗʰ, a version of this idea is developing for the XRP Community as well:

The event is scheduled for November 16ᵗʰ, which places it just six days after the Japanese meetup in Tokyo later this year.

The idea was started by @SincerelyGeorge (Twitter avatar) in an effort to help promote the XRP Community Fund, and raise money for potential community-sourced XRP projects.

Will the idea catch on? Are you curious about who should win one of the categories? To find out more, you can refer to the post on Coil that @SevenVengeful (Twitter avatar) created to explain the idea: Coil Content Review: September 18ᵗʰ, 2019 (and the XRP Community Choice Awards)

LINE App Lists XRP

To understand why a listing on the LINE application is so significant, you must first understand the customer base it has in Asia.

The LINE application, in the most concise explanation I can provide, is 'a text application on steroids.' It's available on both iOS and Android devices, but it's not a direct competitor to full-function social media sites, and it doesn't seem to have a compelling PC-based version like Twitter does.

But it's perfected the experience of texting, and is a light-weight application that is specifically designed to be adopted world-wide. Once you have the application open, it's very fun and engaging, with add-ons that enhance the experience of 'normal' texting with things like stickers, groups, and a customized timeline.

The customer base for LINE?

Just under one billion mobile device users. That's billion. Essentially, there are only a handful of applications that can boast a user base that amounts to hundreds of millions of people, and even less that have a consistent amount of user engagement. Essentially, even a small fraction of this market is significant, much like the numbers that are used to describe cross-border payments and the ForEx market.

This is why the recent announcement from LINE was so significant.

On September 17ᵗʰ, LINE formally announced that they were integrating Bitmax into their application, a virtual currency application that allows customers to directly purchase digital assets, including XRP:

While members of the XRP Community - both Alex Cobb and XRP Research Center - emphasized the Japanese portion of the user base, keep in mind that LINE has enormous coverage throughout Asia. But the reason they emphasized Japan is because of the huge percentage of the overall population in that country that uses the application.

While some crypto traders may choose to remain skeptical, when I checked LINE's Facebook page, here's the message that was posted as the primary announcement:

My guess is that Bitmax, which already boasts an enormous amount of daily trading volume, will receive a significant boost to its bottom line with this listing. Currently, the exchange ranks just after Bitstamp in terms of daily trade volume.

Those are the basics of the deal as I understand them.

The integration of Bitmax into Line is very big news because of the raw size of LINE's user base. If even a small portion of LINE's customer base ends up purchasing XRP, it could result in a significant and permanent boost to the network's global liquidity.

Viral XRP GIFs

The XRP Tip Bot has inspired the imaginations of many people that are new to digital assets. The convenience of true 'Internet money' is realized with the convenience of Wietse Wind's popular application, and because of its intuitive interface, it's been used for a wide variety of low-value money transfers for almost two years now.

To demonstrate some of the potential behind the XRP Tip Bot, @_JonnyLawrence (Twitter avatar) decided to create one of his distinctive GIFs:

Wietse Wind loved the short visual demonstration as well. It's another addition to the collection of GIFs that @_JonnyLawrence has created thus far. To see more of his creations, just navigate to his main Twitter account, which he's used to share them with the rest of the XRP Community: @_JonnyLawrence.

Video: XRP Tip Bot

If you don't yet know about XRP The Standard Productions, my recommendation is that you explore their growing collection of videos to see if there's a video that you may be able to share with a friend or family member. They also make great standalone posts for educational reminders to your associates on social media.

The flavor of the channel is definitely that of an educational or marketing video, and the channel's owner - the same XRP Community member behind @XRPeteSampras (Twitter avatar) - has sponsored previous community promotions like the short story contest that took place in the summer of 2018.

The channel's latest video, 'The XRP Tip Bot,' demonstrates the XRP Tip Bot, and provides some of the history and facts around the social media application:

The strength of the XRP Tip Bot is how easy it is to sign up and use; the video goes over these basics, and emphasizes the fact that the recipient of your tip doesn't even need to have an account - you can freely tip a person and the application will create an account for them if none exists.

The video contains the voice of Ray Witbeck, and his voice sounds professional and smooth; congratulations to both XRP the Standard Productions, and Ray Witbeck on this great, new, share-worthy video!

My Prediction: 'Hybrid Inverse Correlation'

From what I've seen during stable financial times - and that's been the last ten years, essentially - is that the cryptomarket is still very much separate from the ordinary markets, and was originally completely disconnected.

In the last two years, however, I've been under the impression that when times are good, people tend to take more risks.

And that means 'trying out' new asset classes such as digital assets. But I think the industry is also evolving, at the same time that the traditional economy is heading towards a correction. Now, digital assets do not possess the same type of mystery as they once did. Investors have more resources, and those that wished to learn more about them have now done so; the 'newness' factor - and its ability to intimidate some investors - is decreasing.

Now these same investors have the ability to cash in their stocks and easily switch over to buying digital assets.

For example, in Japan, if I have an account at SBI Securities, I can easily start trading cryptocurrency on SBI VC; this is a new development, and it's reflecting a key difference that may mean digital assets will play a unique 'safe-haven' role during a downturn.

We've seen people flock to crypto in large numbers during the Greek debt crisis. We've seen the demand for digital assets spike in Venezuela during recent political unrest.

This same trend will hold true in the West in the event of an election-year economic hiccup or correction, I predict.

This is what I label 'Hybrid Inverse Correlation:' A weak direct relationship during good economic times, and a **strong inverse **relationship during bad economic times.

But don't take my word for it; I'm definitely not an economist. Like you, I'm counting on a combination of my own observations and research to guide my investment decisions. And given my own first-hand experience, I predict that citizens worldwide will wisely choose to invest in the one limited-supply digital asset that is used for real business: XRP.

Sources and Credits:

Cover Art: Thank you to Florian Gagnepain
RV Photo: Thank you to Ahmad
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