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XRP Validator Operates Out of Former Nuclear Bunker in Sweden

2 mins
Updated by Ryan Smith
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In Brief

  • Towo Labs announced it was now operating an XRP validator from a former nuclear bunker.
  • Pionen is a data center located 30 meters beneath Stockholm.
  • XRP is still languishing during an otherwise bullish period for crypto.
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An XRP validator has chosen a rather unusual spot to secure the XRP ledger from.

“As part of our commitment to ensure the long-term health and stability of the XRP Ledger, Towo Labs is now operating a validator from Pionen White Mountains, a former nuclear bunker 30 meters beneath the streets of Stockholm, Sweden,” the XRP developer tweeted.

“Our validator runs on a bare-metal server featuring a 3.4 GHz hexa-core CPU, 64 GB DDR4 RAM, hardware RNG, mirrored NVMe SSDs, redundant PSUs and 1 Gbit/s network link,” a reply tweet detailed.

A validator, as the name implies, validates transactions on the blockchain.

Data Defense Center

Pionen was built as a civil defense center in 1943 to ensure essential government functions. It can withstand a hydrogen bomb because it is buried under a mountain and accessible only by a tunnel. It has since been converted into a data center, owned and run by Bahnhof, Sweden’s oldest independent ISP.

According to XRP developer Towo, the subterranean refuge offers strong physical security. Its connectivity is so good that it facilitates one of Sweden’s Internet exchange points. Also, the data center runs exclusively on renewable energy, and the heat waste warms nearby homes.

XRP Reeling

Ripple’s XRP token has been reeling recently. In December, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it would seek charges against Ripple Labs Inc and its former and current CEOs. The indictment is over alleged illegal sales of XRP. After the announcement, the token immediately dropped 17% and has since lost its top-five position on CoinGecko.

Amidst this regulatory pressure, there is growing speculation that Ripple Labs executives have been dumping their tokens. On February 17, @whale_alert noticed a transfer of 10 million XRP, or roughly $5.4 million. Chairman Chris Larsen or other Ripple executives are the primary suspects of this transaction. On February 15, a tweet declared that founder and former CTO Jed McCaleb would sell his XRP over the coming months.

Additionally, UK-based Tetragon Financial Group is suing Ripple Labs. The investment management company is demanding that the XRP operator buy back $175 million worth of its shares. Tetragon accused Ripple Labs of “playing word games.”

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Nicholas Pongratz
Nick is a data scientist who teaches economics and communication in Budapest, Hungary, where he received a BA in Political Science and Economics and an MSc in Business Analytics from CEU. He has been writing about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2018, and is intrigued by its potential economic and political usage.
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