China Dominates Bitcoin Network, U.S. Turns to Ripple for Parity

This near-complete dominance of the Bitcoin (BTC) mining grid has made China responsible for mining the majority of all circulating bitcoins. Bitmain Technologies, a Beijing-based company, is responsible for mining more than half of the world’s bitcoins and has, on more than one occasion, approached 50 percent of the total hash rate alone.

By controlling the majority of the Bitcoin hash rate, it is widely recognized that China has the power to manipulate and possibly destroy the Bitcoin network should there be enough support behind the move. This has lead to concerns that China might be getting the edge in this growing industry — leaving other countries behind.

Ripple to the Rescue

According to a Ripple Labs executive, the U.S. administration is taking an interest in Ripple (XRP) in a bid to counter China’s Bitcoin dominance. Unlike Bitcoin, Ripple is a private blockchain, potentially making it more attractive to banks, with dozens of banks expected to use XRP technology by 2019 — according to Ripple’s CEO. However, Ripple has repeatedly come under fire for being more centralized than other cryptocurrencies, with Ripple Labs owning close to 60 billion XRP, or 60 percent of the total supply. Ripple is currently trading at $0.46, up 64 percent over the last month, but still down significantly since its all-time high of $3.84 in January 2018. During Ripple’s recent Swell conference in San Francisco, the price tumbled by 13 percent, despite the seemingly positive news presented at the event. At Swell, Ripple Labs announced that three companies had signed up for its new xRapid service — MercuryFX, Cuallix, and Catalyst Corporate. During the event, Ripple also announced that the service is now live. Many banks and financial institutions have expressed an interest in blockchain technology and digital assets such as Ripple, owing to the huge speed and efficiency improvements they are expected to bring to the now-dated financial systems. What do you think about China’s Bitcoin dominance? Is Ripple the way forward for banks? Let us know what you think in the comments below!