In a recent interview with the Deutsche publication of Coin Telegraph, Porsche, which is one of the biggest German luxury car brands in the world, announced that it was looking to become one of the first car manufacturing companies to integrate blockchain and cryptocurrency into their vehicles. While the particular announcement contains details on a partnership with Berlin-based startup XAIN, the overall focus is on navigating through the possibility of crypto-blockchain based applications and other novel-implementations.XAIN could develop its own blockchain-based technology to integrate into the vehicles, but the chances are higher that the development team could turn towards an already established cryptocurrency and network to do the bulk of work. The following are a few reasons why a partnership between Ripple and Porsche could be a great idea.Of all the currencies currently on the market, Ripple boasts of the best network features and usability for a transacting currency. If Porsche plans to integrate a cryptocurrency into its luxury, top-of-the-line vehicles, it would require a stable currency like Ripple which is equipped with a network capable of handling instant, and essentially free transactions.
Non-existent fees: 0.0001 XRP is all that is consumed per transaction. While other currencies require paying miner fees to expedite or initiate an exchange if the process of ensuring security and consensus on the Ripple blockchain would involve consumption of only a minimum amount of XRP. At current price levels, one penny would net you 1000 XRP-related transactions. Another way of putting this would be that by Ripple guidelines, 1 XRP will allow you 100,000 transactions. Even a bullish 10 USD per coin, could help you earn a lifetime worth of Ripple transactions.
Scalability: In 2018 and beyond, currencies that can scale will be deemed fit to survive. The rest are going to be forced into a steady decline or outright collapse. It does Porshe no good to implement to integrate a cryptocurrency in their vehicles—even as a tempting high-priced project— if network congestion renders the feature unusable by users. Imagine bitcoin implementation, with 7 transactions per second and you start to see the limitations of usability. Ripple has the ability to process 1500 tx/s with the possibility of even greater scale by the development.
Speed: The person buying a 100,000 USD horsepower, a legal race car is going to put a priority on the aspect of speed in every facet of their lives. Cryptocurrencies with average confirmation times in the minutes and hours are not going to be chosen by such people. Ripple has under-five second confirmations. The vision of clicking a button on your phone and having near-instant access to a crypto-related feature on your car can only turn into a reality by a handful of currencies, Ripple being the primary one.
Novel car uses for Ripple:In terms of usability, XRP has distanced itself from the rest of the market. The intrinsic utility of XRP, with the backing of the development team at Ripple, creates an unlimited scope of use for the cryptocurrency. The only factor imposing a limitation on the expansion of the cryptocurrency is a lack of entrepreneurial interest. That could change with growing adoption of Ripple and integration of cryptocurrencies into mainstream technologies becoming a common phenomenon nowadays. A luxury brand like Porsche could help bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies like Ripple and the modern lifestyles of people through the integration of something as ubiquitous as cell phones. The complexity of a smartphone was both costly and technologically-prohibitive to the common man about fifteen years ago. That changed with the introduction and widespread adoption of iPhones becoming common. Ripple could follow a similar pattern if companies are willing to find ways to integrate cryptocurrency into daily life.We are all experienced with using a key to open a car door and start the ignition. Cryptocurrency could now function as a new form of key. The private key to a wallet address, like the physical apparatus, could serve the same function.Given the under-five second speed of transaction and negligible fee, a person could use XRP for both unlocking a car and starting the ignition. Imagine sending an XRP coin, from a designated private key address that only you hold, which is then recognized by a similar wallet inside the car as a signal to green-light the unlock and ignition. The 0.00001 XRP consumed in the transaction would provide added security while the Ripple blockchain would maintain a ledger for the transaction. The car could function entirely through a wallet held on the phone/watch/other wearable product. It also opens the avenues for other interesting uses for XRP integrated vehicles. Paying tolls, fees, and taxes automatically through a wallet held in the car will become easy through integration with apps that consume a minimum amount of XRP.Thus a move like Porsche adopting Ripple for car integration could just be the novelty we need to foster further cryptocurrency ingenuity and innovation.
