Based on Current XRP Price, SpendTheBits CEO Laments High XRPL Onboarding Fees
Jaskaran Kambo, the founder and CEO of XRPL-based payment solution SpendTheBits, has called attention to the high fee required to create an account on the XRP Ledger.
Kambo’s recent remarks came as a response to a previous post from crypto author Panos Mekras, in which he touted XRP’s attractive features and the potential for the XRP Ledger to displace traditional financial institutions and the SWIFT system.
Reason Behind XRP Creation
In his June 11 post, Mekras debunked the notion that XRP exists to provide support for banks or TradFi institutions. He expressed disapproval of comments made by XRP community figures regarding XRP’s position to assist banks in certain aspects amid growing adoption.
“It (XRP) was literally created to destroy the banks’ monopoly and disintermediate them. XRP was created as a better BTC for P2P transactions. For people, not banks,” Mekras stressed.
Highlighting other useful features like the native XRPL decentralized exchange (DEX), the industry commentator argued that the original vision for the XRPL ecosystem was to help the masses break out of the cycle of high charges and limited access to finance by entities such as banks, card issuers, and the likes of PayPal.
“This is what Ripple mentioned on their website in 2013,” Mekras said. He emphasized that Ripple intended to build a transparent payment infrastructure for individuals to leverage for P2P transactions on the XRPL while using the native DEX. He stressed that banks were not part of the vision.
He acknowledged the fact that Ripple has pivoted to cater to banks and the cross-border payment scene. However, Mekras asserted that this switch in focus is intended to help create a level playing field for smaller banks rather than to assist larger banks in maintaining their monopoly.
“XRP is For Everyone”
However, Mekras noted that, whatever the case is, Ripple is just one of hundreds of entities building on the XRPL. As a result, its focus or line of business should not determine what direction the ecosystem takes. Notably, the XRPL currently boasts over 1,500 projects.
“XRP is for everyone – especially the people who are sick of banks and centralized entities that charge a lot of fees, have big delays, and can censor you. This is the reason XRP Ledger was built. To free the people from such institutions and give the power back to individuals,” Mekras concluded.
SpendTheBits CEO Disagrees
However, five months later, the CEO of SpendTheBits recently replied to Mekra’s remarks. Kambo disclosed that he agrees with all Mekras has said about XRP. Nonetheless, he disagrees with the assertion that the XRPL is for everyone.
Everything discussed below is accurate, except for people part. As a builder working on #XRPL, achieving retail adoption is challenging. Activating a multi-currency (BTC, CAD, USDC) wallet comes with an approx. customer acquisition cost of $15 CAD, considering current $XRP price. https://t.co/VZhQpJPLqy
— Jaskaran Kambo🪝☀️ (@Jay_SpendDBits) November 23, 2023
The reason behind this, he says, is that builders such as him find it extremely difficult to get retail adoption. Kambo, a resident of Canada, pointed out that it would cost approximately CA$15 for new users to create a multi-currency wallet on the XRPL.
This onboarding fee, much higher than other protocols, sometimes discourages prospective users from trying out the network. Some project builders on the network have raised this concern, with the official SpendTheBits X account recently initiating a poll on the matter.
It bears mentioning that the XRPL charges an initial deposit of 10 XRP (currently $6.2) for creating a new account. This fee structure aims to mitigate the incidence of multiple wallets for spam transactions. However, community members have lamented the high fee, calling for a reduction.