Meet “Crypto Pioneer” Jed McCaleb

Although you may not have heard of him, Jed McCaleb is a legend in the budding crypto industry. He forayed into cryptocurrencies when there was essentially only Bitcoin (BTC), launching the first iteration of Mt. Gox in 2007 (he converted into a BTC platform in late 2010). After leaving Mt. Gox, which collapsed just years later under the leadership of French national Mark Karpeles, Caleb began work on the Ripple protocol. The developer’s venture spawned XRP into existence, leading him to subsequently on-board David Scharwtz and Chris Larsen, who now act as prominent executives at the San Francisco-headquartered Ripple.

Following his stint at the financial technology startup, which has outperformed its peers in 2018, the crypto-centric entrepreneur left to co-found the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF). The SDF evidently is behind the organization Lumens (XLM). Since founding the Stellar protocol parent in 2014, McCaleb has committed a majority of his time developing the Stellar ecosystem, as XLM continues to top the cryptocurrency leaderboards day-in and day-out.

Disregard Bitcoin Crash, Crypto Still “Way Way Up”

2018 hasn’t been kind to the cryptosphere. In the past year, a majority of cryptocurrencies have tumbled, falling victim to the bear market blues. In fact, the aggregate value of all cryptocurrencies has fallen from ~$825 billion to $125 billion. This collapse has led mainstream media to lambast Bitcoin and its altcoin brethren, claiming that the end is nigh for this innovative asset class.

However, McCaleb, speaking to Yahoo Finance in a recent interview, claimed that consumers shouldn’t be worried. In a phone interview, the Ripple and Stellar co-founder claimed that “it’s funny when people say crypto is down,” quipping that in his eyes, it’s still “way way up.”

He explained that while prices are evidently down from their peak, by and large, this industry is stronger than ever. The Stellar creator added that it hasn’t affected business much either, noting that it “doesn’t matter” too much, echoing sentiment touted by other “BUIDLers.” Yet, he admitted that bull runs bring in more eyes, along with more free-flowing capital to drive innovation.

Considering McCaleb has an evident vested interest in this industry, it’s no surprise that he’s still bullish. Yet, confidence from such a notable industry insider is comforting.

“90% Of Projects Are B.S.”

Although McCaleb painted a positive picture overall, he explained that this industry has become inherently hype-driven, presumably due to the rapid rate that this industry has grown at. On the matter of hype, he added:

The allocation of capital and resources is wild to watch, when these projects that have zero technical merit get millions of dollars. It seems like a big shame. Hopefully that will start to change. One of the nice things that comes with the market calming down—I still say it’s not a bear market—it means there’s less of that.

The industry insider subsequently noted that 90% of all crypto projects are “B.S.,” adding that he’s looking forward to this industry theme to shift. McCaleb specifically called out Tron (TRX), claiming that it’s garbage, but people continue to “dump tons of money into it,” even if the product doesn’t work in full. He added that when you boil things down, in most cases, the utilization of existing cryptocurrencies, like XLM and BTC, is enough.

Title Image Courtesy of Brian Garcia via Unsplash