There was a rumour online back in April that Ripple was giving away 100 million XRP as rewards to loyal hodlers. These rumors have resurfaced since last week. The link that is causing the problem is XRP-PRIZE.NET which appears in a video with Brad Garlinghouse. It looks like the real deal. Or does it?
Video downloaded from the X platform showing Garlinghouse promoting an XRP rewards program
The link shared in the online post doesn’t link to a website at all. It also comes following a warning from Ripple CTO David Schwartz last month that AI-generated scams are being used widely online. As a legend in crypto, Schwartz is very active on the X platform and warns XRP users of challenges with bad actors frequently.
XRP in the News, Scammers on Patrol
It’s unusual to observe, as a journalist, how hackers often use similar tactics to us. They wait for big news stories to break (the only thing they do similarly to us), and they use the hype to legitimize their unethical activities (unlike us). And, with XRP, there has been breaking news quite often this year.
The most recent story to emanate from the Ripple Press Centre has been the recent acquisition of Rail, a stablecoin-powered platform for global payments, for $200 million.
The other piece of news is related to the SEC case against Ripple which has been finally laid to rest. Hester Peirce, AKA Crypto Mom, shared details of an SEC announcement from August 7. The announcement explains details of a ‘Joint Stipulation of Dismissal’ dismissing the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal. Good news for Brad Garlinghouse.
These stories together will have piqued the interest of XRP hodlers. But, alas, it also piqued the interest of crypto scammers. Whilst Hester believes that “minds occupied with litigation can now focus on creating a clear regulatory framework for crypto.” There will only be more scams and scammers to contend with too.
Ripple has already recognized this worrying trend. On July 23 Ripple posted on X for its followers to “stay vigilant.” The post explained how the team at Ripple had noticed an uptick of XRP scams on YouTube, where scammers are stealing accounts and then updating the page to impersonate Ripple’s official account (username: @Ripple). The post goes on to remind followers that Ripple or it’s execs will NEVER ask its followers to send them their XRP.
Is XRP a Victim of its own Success?
Last week we brought you the story of Remittix, touted to be an ‘XRP Killer’. There are others too. Keeta, which has been around for a few years, is another layer 1 blockchain being mentioned as an XRP Killer. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, is an investor.
Long-term crypto enthusiasts will remember when bitcoin cash came out in 2017. It was particularly popular in Japan where it was rolled out as a form of payment across thousands of retail businesses. This popularity of BCH (the abbreviation for bitcoin cash) was put down to its lower cost per token which was attractive to investors who didn’t want to pay the higher cost of an actual bitcoin. Others bought it thinking it was actual bitcoin (BTC and BCH may seem confusing for some new investors to crypto).
It won’t surprise our readers to know that XRP is also popularized by tokens called XRPayNet or Xrp Classic or XRP2.0 and many others.
Nobody said crypto was easy. You must do your due diligence. And you need to remain vigilant of online posts offering something for nothing like in the case of XRP. Perhaps there will be a Ripple Reward Program one day, but you will need to ensure that it’s a program that is backed by Ripple and not a fake website…
Author: Andy Samu
#XRP #Ripple #Scam #Rewards #Crypto
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
See Also:
Could “Crypto Mom” Hester Peirce Be The Next SEC Chair? | Disruption Banking
Who Is Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse? | Disruption Banking
Is There a 2030 Roadmap for XRP? | Disruption Banking
Is the End of the Ripple-SEC Lawsuit a Turning Point for Crypto Regulation? | Disruption Banking
