Expert Lists 5 Unchanging Bullish Facts About XRP and the XRPL

Jake Claver, CEO of Digital Ascension Group, outlined five core bullish attributes of XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) that he says remain true despite recent criticism from rival communities. Key points: (1) Decentralization — XRPL runs as a layer-1 ledger supported by a global set of independent validators (185 running rippled versions per XRPScan) using its own consensus model, not PoW/PoS; (2) Deflationary supply — XRP launched with a fixed 100 billion supply and transaction fees permanently burn tiny amounts (~0.00001 XRP), totalling about 14.2 million XRP burned since 2012; (3) Native DEX — XRPL includes a built-in decentralized exchange (central limit order book) and AMMs for liquidity without external apps; (4) Tokenization — XRPL natively supports issued tokens (stablecoins, RWA, NFTs) without smart contracts; (5) Layer-1 native features — payments, escrow, token issuance and decentralized trading are implemented at protocol level, reducing smart-contract risk (Hooks offers limited programmability). The piece also covers counterpoints from Chainlink proponent "Fishy Catfish," who argued XRPL lacks strong on-chain mechanisms linking usage to price, pointed to low TVL and DEX volume (<$3M/day), limited developer headcount, and Ripple’s ecosystem focus (including issuing most RLUSD on Ethereum). The article frames these claims as opinion and not financial advice.