Few projects in the crypto market have sparked as much debate and intrigue as XRP. While XRP is often associated with banks and financial institutions, especially in the context of cross-border payments, some still debate its original purpose.

This is particularly evident in a recent discussion initiated by Crypto Eri (@sentosumosaba), a well-known figure in the space, who shared a picture from the early days of Ripple and asked the community about the first use case of XRP.

The image from Ripple Labs from 2013-2014 shows a campaign that distributed XRP in exchange for computing power that benefited scientific research. This early initiative stands in stark contrast to the asset’s current association with banking and finance, and suggests a broader and more altruistic vision at its creation.

Community speculation about the original purpose of XRP

Panos Mekras, co-founder of Anodos Finance, responded to Crypto Eri’s query, noting that the original use case was to “donate computing power for scientific research,” which he essentially described as “mining” XRP. This comment was echoed by Crypto Eri, who praised Mekras for his keen insight.

Mekras’ observation is particularly compelling because it reflects a time when XRP was seen as a tool to encourage community participation in computing, similar to traditional mining but with a philanthropic twist.

Another user in the discussion pointed out that the original vision of Jed McCaleb, one of Ripple’s co-founders, may have been to develop “a better Bitcoin.” Crypto Eri responded, adding Chris Larsen and Arthur Britto to the list and highlighting all of Ripple’s co-founders as sharing in that vision.

Interestingly, another community member replaced Britto’s name with David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, who has been instrumental in the growth of XRP but does not hold the title of co-founder.

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While Bitcoin was designed to be a decentralized currency, free from the control of a central authority, Ripple’s developers sought to address some of the limitations they saw in Bitcoin’s architecture. These included faster transaction times and lower fees, making XRP more suitable for everyday use and potentially accessible to a wider range of applications.

One user suggested that the community should ask Schwartz directly about the original intent behind the creation of the XRP Ledger. This user emphasized that while the goal was to create “a better Bitcoin,” there was some ambiguity about what that really meant. The original intent was likely to combine all of these elements and create a technologically superior digital asset capable of meeting broader societal needs.