Chris Larsen, the Ripple Chairman, recently shared the story behind the company’s name change from OpenCoin in an interview with Ben Fong-Torres. Originally established in 2012, Ripple has emerged as a major player in the digital payment and cryptocurrency arena. The rebranding to Ripple has an intriguing connection to music history.
During the interview, XRP community figure XRPDROPZ highlighted Larsen’s revelation that the name Ripple was indeed inspired by the iconic 1970 Grateful Dead song. Larsen explained that they acquired the name from a man who had previously operated a 900 number for Grateful Dead information and held the rights to the name Ripple. Despite numerous interested buyers, Larsen and his team managed to secure the name by offering shares in their company, a decision that proved mutually beneficial.
Larsen shared that the decision to choose Ripple as the new name for OpenCoin had multiple layers of inspiration. At the time, they were working on a Bitcoin competitor with the vision of freely distributing the cryptocurrency worldwide. The concept of a digital currency “rippling around” the world resonated with the essence of the Grateful Dead song “Ripple,” which references a fountain. Larsen’s experiences at Grateful Dead concerts shaped his vision for Ripple, influencing its ethos and direction.
Additionally, Larsen revealed the financial success of the individual who sold them the Ripple name. Originally valued at around $100,000, the shares he received in exchange escalated in worth to approximately $30 million, reflecting Ripple’s remarkable growth since its inception.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz praised Larsen’s pivotal role in the company’s success during an AMA session. Schwartz emphasized Larsen’s unwavering commitment to Ripple’s growth during challenging times. While Ripple was not directly involved in creating XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, there exists a close relationship between the original architects of the ledger and Ripple. Schwartz also previously elucidated the reasoning behind the “XRP” currency code.
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