For a brief moment, Ripple had some exciting news to share with its followers on Twitter. Yet, it wasn’t long before the trolls came out in their droves to mock the cryptocurrency. It shared a post announcing former president Bill Clinton as the keynote speaker at its upcoming Swell conference. Ripple is similar to Marmite in the sense that you either love it or you hate it – and for the majority of the crypto world, they hate it. This isn’t Ripple’s first event either that has received abuse from the crypto community. Back in May, it invited Snoop Dogg to play at its conference in Manhattan.
We’re thrilled to announce @BillClinton as keynote speaker for this year’s #SwellbyRipple. For more details: https://t.co/KYQgI4YrWv pic.twitter.com/XSo46T2s3d
— Ripple (@Ripple) July 31, 2018
Is Ripple a Real Cryptocurrency?
This is the ongoing debate in the crypto world and is the reason anytime Ripple does anything it receives a barrage of abuse. Ripple is currently suffering from multiple lawsuits all claiming that the cryptocurrency is in fact a security – something that its CEO Brad Garlinghouse denies vehemently. As the months pass by, more lawsuits appear to be filed against the company. The problem stems from the fact Ripple’s cryptocurrency – XRP – is totally pre-mined and the majority of the supply is held by the company. To many crypto enthusiasts, this implies centralization and makes it a security.
When Will We Finally Know About Ripple and XRP?
No official deadline has been set for the SEC to decide on whether Ripple’s XRP is a security or not, however if it does get labeled a security, there is a good chance Ripple will make a comeback. Sure, the price will tank for a while, but the technology behind it would pump the security price to the levels of Amazon and Apple stock. Ripple and its XRapid platform have partnered with a number of leading banks and payment companies, most notably American Express, and the results are promising. MasterCard could probably take a leaf out of Amex’s book to prevent its outages.
Someone More Suited to Ripple’s Clientele
It appears as if Ripple and its event planners have learned a lesson from prior events, as they’ve booked Bill Clinton to give the upcoming keynote speech. Its main clients are banks and financial institutions, so a weed smoking rapper is probably not best suited to its audience. Snoop would be perfect for the marijuana blockchain industry though – just saying. Clinton still has made his fair share of blunders throughout the years, and his quote “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” will forever be attached to his name.
Ripple Announces Big-Name Keynote Speaker
In a post on its Twitter account, Ripple’s PR team decided to announce Bill Clinton as the keynote speaker – they even created a nice artwork. However, this was their downfall. The artwork quickly became a template for some rather amusing memes to flood the Twittersphere mocking the announcement. Here are a few of our favorites
The explosive keynote we’ve all been waiting for! @Ripple $XRP pic.twitter.com/Fy7nv616Uf
— Mike Dudas (@mdudas) August 1, 2018
New speaker at the #XRP event! pic.twitter.com/Fy7nv616Uf
— CryptoTyrion (@Cryptotyrion) July 31, 2018
ok wtf pic.twitter.com/VRAKuIgdpp
— COINLORD ⚡️⚡️ (@BTC4USD) July 31, 2018
Lastly, Ripple will round off their solid panel with NICOLÁS MADURO! pic.twitter.com/IVKczKsTVN
— André the GIANT ⚡️ (@CRYPTOtheGIANT) July 31, 2018
— André the GIANT ⚡️ (@CRYPTOtheGIANT) July 31, 2018
This actually makes a lot of sense. pic.twitter.com/iYFeCFhnhd
— Bertrand Teap (@BertrandTeap) July 31, 2018
It looks like Ripple is a glutton for punishment, and no doubt will have a myriad of memes made about the outcome of its conference. While it does have a good product, there is still some clarification needed by the SEC on whether XRP is a security or not. Its underlying technology is powering the future of the banking industry. Whatever the outcome of the SEC’s decision, the crypto world will react in a big way to the news – probably with memes.
