Ripple’s CEO has made a bold, and what he believes is underreported, claim about Bitcoin, while speaking at a conference in Boston.

Brad Garlinghouse: ‘Bitcoin Is Controlled by China’

Taking center stage during the Stifel 2018 Cross Sector Insight Conference in Boston, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, a fintech company that connects banks and payment providers, spoke on a number of topics relating to the blockchain and crypto world.

One claim that he made was that the blockchain won’t disrupt banks. He believes that it will “play an important role in the way our system works,” but that it’s a “short-sighted view,” reports The Street. More surprisingly, though, is his bold statement that Bitcoin is controlled by China.

He started by saying that people who think the number one digital currency is going to become a world currency are “absurd.” Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and co-founder of payments processing company Square, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are two such individuals who believe this.

Garlinghouse went on to say:

I’ll tell you another story that is underreported, but worth paying attention to. Bitcoin is really controlled by China. There are four miners in China that control over 50% of Bitcoin. How do we know that China won’t intervene?  How many countries want to use a Chinese-controlled currency? It’s just not going to happen.

Last week, it was reported that Garlinghouse had also said that Bitcoin was not the “panacea” people expected it to be. XRP, Ripple’s token, is used in the banking world to conduct settlement transactions. According to Ripple’s CEO, XRP is the best token for the job. He said that whereas Bitcoin takes 45 minutes to settle a transaction, XRP only takes four seconds.

Coinbase Sidesteps XRP for Ethereum Classic

Yet, despite the fact that Ripple’s XRP is ranked third in the market cap league, valued at $21.2 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, it still hasn’t been listed on Coinbase.

Yesterday, it was reported that the San Francisco-based exchange had taken the step of announcing its intended support for Ethereum Classic, currently ranked at number 18. Out of the top five cryptocurrencies listed on Coinbase, Ripple and EOS are the only two not listed. Sixth-placed Litecoin is on the exchange.

Undoubtedly, this will irk some in the community who may feel that Ripple and its token are doing more compared to Ethereum Classic. However, for the time being, it will have to remain on the outside looking in. Garlinghouse, though, doesn’t seem concerned.

At the end of his speech at the conference, he said, “We’re at mile 1 in a 26-mile marathon.”

Do you agree with Brad Garlinghouse and his view on China controlling Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Flickr.

The post Bitcoin Is Controlled by China, Claims Ripple CEO appeared first on Bitcoin Network, News, Charts, Guides & Analysis.