Everyone who owns altcoins knows it: when Bitcoin depreciates, it often causes a lot of other digital assets to fall. For Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, this "BTC addiction" is expected to end soon.

BTC and altcoins: "fundamentally independent" technologies

So far, price developments in the majority of digital currencies have been closely related to those of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which was launched in 2009.

But for Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of the California company Ripple, markets should soon incorporate the fundamental differences that may exist between these different assets. Thus, the influence of Bitcoin on the course of the altcoins should gradually diminish:

There is a very strong correlation between the price of XRP and that of Bitcoin. These are fundamentally independent open-source technologies, "Garlinghouse said on Wednesday during CNBC's Power Lunch program. "It is still too early, but you will see the emergence of a more rational market over time, with behaviors that reflect this independence.

Recall that Ripple is the name of the San Francisco-based company that is currently developing a network to facilitate international financial payments. For its part, the XRP is the token that can be used on the same network by financial institutions that want to conduct cross-border transactions, almost free and almost instantaneous.

According to Garlinghouse, Ripple would have had a record first quarter, signing agreements with 20 new companies. The company announced this week the establishment of a partnership with the largest bank in Kuwait, which is added to the list of financial institutions (including MoneyGram) that are already testing the XRP to achieve cross-border payments.

XRP: -84% against the dollar since the beginning of the year

Yet, at the same time, the course of the XRP collapsed.

The asset - which has lost nearly 84% of its value since a historical record of more than $ 3.80 crossed on January 4th - currently represents the worst performer of the main crypto-currencies in the year 2018:

But the entire ecosystem has suffered over the same period, while valuations of Bitcoin and all altcoins both fell by around 46% in 2018.

With a "Market Cap" of nearly $ 24 billion, the XRP remains firmly anchored to its 3rd place in the cryptocurrency rankings, behind the Ether and in front of Bitcoin Cash.

For Garlinghouse, the volatility found on crypto-markets should soon diminish:

It's still an emerging sector, and trading is still dominated by speculation, "he said. "I think it's only a matter of time before people understand their different use cases better.

If one could count, when writing this article, 1635 digital assets trading on the markets, the leader of Ripple think that the majority of these corners will have "disappeared" in ten years:

We will see a correction coming along the way. Many players in this ecosystem, who are not solving a real problem, will disappear, he predicted.

Le XRP, un véritable titre financier ?

Brad Garlinghouse also praised the role of the US Stock Exchange Constable - the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):

The SEC is doing the right thing, as there has been a lot of fraud, "he said. "The government should protect investors and businesses, even though we are witnessing the emergence of really useful innovations

The regulator must also determine whether the cryptocurrencies should be equated with real financial securities. Jay Clayton, its chairman, said last March that he believed that all the tokens offered under ICOs were indeed securities, and that they should be subject to the rules that apply to securities.

But for Mr. Garlinghouse, equating the XRP with a true financial title would not make sense:

If you own XRP, you do not have rights to the profits or dividends of the company, "he explained.