XRP Can’t Be Confiscated by Government, Says Ex-Ripple Director, Here Are 3 Reasons Why

Ripple’s former director of developer relations, Mat Hamilton, once again addressed the XRP community, clarifying rumors of a possible government buyback of the token from the market. Like last time, he stated that such a course of action would not be possible, the main reason being that the value of digital assets is ascribed by their users.

There is a small, but very vocal minority of the XRP Community that is promoting a crazy idea of the US government buying back / confiscating XRP from US citizens, yet for some strange reason compensating them 100’s of 1000’s of % above market rate.

— Matt Hamilton (@HammerToe) January 12, 2023

“XRP and Bitcoin have no intrinsic value; their value is determined by a set of transactional rules devised by a decentralized group of people,” the developer argued.

What XRP confiscation?

As well as refuting yet another round of nonsense about XRP being bought back by the government, Hamilton also broke down talk of possible confiscation. This speculation has emerged as an extension of the original conspiracy theory. As a reminder, there are rumors that XRP is to be confiscated from the market by the same government for its own use and so that the technology is not spread anywhere else.

According to Hamilton, confiscation of XRP is impossible for at least three reasons. First, the developer notes, XRP is a decentralized cryptocurrency and cannot be seized without forcing key holders. Second, it is easier for the government to create its own digital token if it need it for its own use. Finally, if the U.S. government restricts everyone from using XRP, it would kill any use of the token and it would simply be replaced by a fork.