Chris Larsen, the Cofounder, Executive Chairman, and Former CEO of Ripple
- Owns 5.19 Billion XRP Coins and 17% of the company
- Worth over 59 Billion Dollars (as of January 4)
- 5th Richest Person in the world
…No One Cares
As you guys have probably heard, Chris #Larsen made it big yesterday. News circulated very quickly of his astonishing wealth. I personally was stunned by the fact that he outpocketed the Koch Brothers, the founder of Oracle, and THE CREATORS OF GOOGLE! What?! The fact that one can acquire such wealth in less than five years completely blows my mind. Good for him.
It is a common thing amongst the crypto-community to face puzzlement and judgment when telling others about their endeavours in cryptocurrency. Statements like “That is just fake money” and “I’m not a criminal” easily come to mind. When I heard the news about Larsen, I thought this HAD to be the key step in finally changing public sentiment. A man heavily involved in the second biggest cryptocurrency is now one of the wealthiest people in the world. Well, I was wrong. After bringing the news to some older adults in my life, their views of crypto did not change. It is still play money to them, despite the hard facts. It could not be more clear… right? I get that this is a huge bubble (evident by the sharp decline of Ripple during the past day), but the principle is still there. Cryptocurrency is a revolutionary technology and has a place in our modern #economy. Will the arena change the way businesses and governments operate like we have never seen before? Maybe not, but it definitely is not something to brush off.
The Gullibility of the Mass Public
Unfortunately, we live in a society devoid of independent reasoning. The reason why many continue to discount the validity of cryptocurrency is because authorities (big companies, governments, celebrities) have not validated it. Why would they? They either want to establish themselves in the arena prior to mass adoption to increase gains or it is simply not in their best interest to increase its popularity.
However, if some day banks start opening cryptocurrency depositing accounts, big-box stores begin accepting Bitcoin payments at discounts, and governments accept it with open arms (the latter is highly unlikely), EVERYONE would jump on board. At this point, the huge gains we see today will inevitably be exponentially more difficult to achieve. Millions will look back on these earlier days and wish they had participated, and a new phenomenal investing opportunity will emerge under wraps. It is a repeating cycle where those who really need the #money the most miss out.
Congrats Chris Larsen! He had the foresight to see the possible future of a flourishing cryptocurrency landscape. Unfortunately, most will not come to this realization until it is too late.