Blockchain Software Engineer Takes to Twitter to Crush the Fear and Doubt Being Spread about Ripple and XRP

Many people in the cryptocurrency industry see XRP as a centralized currency, which is a problem for the industry that thrives on decentralization. One software engineer and cryptographer, which goes by the handle @Ansel Lindner on Twitter, decided to critique the issues they found with Ripple.

A few things are blatantly absent from #Ripple $XRP:

1) robust acedemic research
2) many identifiable people in the community
3) mailing list where a number of respected cryptographers discuss
4) community debates over updates
5) byzantine fault tolerance https://t.co/rJOLQ4j4qe

— bitcoiner LNP/BP (@AnselLindner) January 29, 2019

On Twitter, the user responded to a tweet, commenting that there are certain things that are “blatantly absent” from Ripple. Those five traits are:

However, Nik Bougalis, an engineering manager with Ripple, did not take these accusations sitting down. Instead, he quickly jumped on the thread, challenging the Twitter user by saying:

(1/11) Hi! I'm Nik, an engineering manager at Ripple. I've been working on XRP Ledger going on 6 years and, along with my teammates, I've contribute to the XRP Ledger codebase. Let's address your tweet point by point.

Ready?
Set.
Go!

— Nik Bougalis (@nbougalis) January 29, 2019

Over the course of 11 tweets, Bougalis takes on each of the five points, starting with academic research by calling it “an interesting topic.” Explaining, he said, “We've published several papers which describe the algorithm we use and provide a mathematic framework to analyze it. We welcome academic review. @XRPTrump already linked one of them.” He also stated that they are open to academic research both within the ledger and the blockchain industry as a whole, pointing out that he proposed the idea that spurred the University Blockchain Research Initiative.

Next, he takes on the second point, saying that there are many identifiable members, adding that there are “a number of whom I've been lucky to meet in real life and who publicly and prominently identify themselves.” As far as a mailing list, he appeals to the critic, saying,

(7/11) As a cryptographer myself, I would, of course, be very happy to see promiment cryptographers discussing more about #blockchain, so I'm all in favor of a mailing list. Are you volunteering to start one? Let me know, because I'd love to join!

— Nik Bougalis (@nbougalis) January 29, 2019

As far as community debates, Bougalis thinks that they are “great,” adding”

(8/11) Community debates over updates are great. The XRP Ledger features an on-ledger voting mechanism allowing the participants in the network to vote about which updates they want and which they don't. Read more about it here: https://t.co/QhhQ2kYOeK

— Nik Bougalis (@nbougalis) January 29, 2019

When it comes to the “byzantine fault tolerance, Bougalis simply replies:

(10/11) You then discuss Byzantine fault tolerance. I'm not sure what you're suggesting? If it is the protocol is not robust in the face of Byzantine faults then, to be blunt, you're simply wrong.

I urge you to consider reading the papers that we've published on this topic.

— Nik Bougalis (@nbougalis) January 29, 2019

Clearly, when someone decides to wrongfully accuse the Ripple platform, in any capacity, they need to remember the strong community and contributors involved in it. Along with Bougalis in this situation, CEO Brad Garlinghouse has never been shy about going after FUDs surrounding the company, while CTO David Schwartz has even busted a FUD that xRapid transactions were occurring on a private ledger.

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