- Analyst nietzbux criticizes Solana for using Western Union announcement to attack XRP.
- Ripple and MoneyGram partnership ended in 2021 after an SEC lawsuit caused uncertainty.
- Western Union stablecoin launch on Solana described as modest adoption event by critics.
Crypto analyst nietzbux has criticized the Solana community’s response to Western Union’s stablecoin launch on its network. The analyst characterized the reaction as revealing insecurities about XRP rather than celebrating the partnership achievement.
Western Union announced plans to issue a USD-denominated stablecoin on Solana. While the development is an adoption for the network, nietzbux described it as a “lukewarm event in today’s world of mass adoption.” The analyst pointed to how Solana supporters, including official accounts, used the announcement to criticize XRP and bridge currencies.
MoneyGram partnership provides context
The comparison to XRP stems from Ripple’s historical partnership with MoneyGram, which began in June 2019. Ripple made an initial $30 million equity investment in MoneyGram at $4.10 per share, with options for an additional $20 million over two years. This gave Ripple an 8-10% stake in the company.
MoneyGram used Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity platform powered by XRP for cross-border foreign exchange settlement. The technology allowed near real-time transaction settlement using XRP as a bridge currency and removed pre-funded accounts in various currencies. Ripple paid MoneyGram approximately $38 million in market development fees during 2020.
The partnership collapsed following the SEC’s December 2020 lawsuit against Ripple alleging XRP was an unregistered security. MoneyGram suspended trading on Ripple’s platform due to legal uncertainty in December 2020, announced it would not count on Ripple fees in February 2021, and officially terminated the agreement in March 2021.
Related: Western Union Tested XRP for a Decade, But Why Did It Pick Solana?
Analyst identifies competitive dynamics
Nietzbux argued that Solana’s approach to the Western Union announcement exposes several concerns. The analyst suggested Solana supporters are “very jealous of XRP’s market cap” and lack understanding of what Ripple and XRP have accomplished since 2019. The critique also noted that framing Western Union as a major victory for Solana ignores that other chains pursue opportunities involving trillions in value.
“You have to really be punching up to make your own PR release about another coin,” nietzbux stated. The analyst characterized the behavior as revealing “immense insecurities” among Solana supporters who cannot celebrate their own announcement without attempting to position bridge currencies and XRP as obsolete.
The analyst referenced Eric Trump’s call to end tribalism in cryptocurrency but noted the Western Union announcement generated “XRP hate” despite being a routine stablecoin launch. Nietzbux clarified having no animosity toward Solana but criticized making promotional victories about competing tokens as projecting weakness rather than confidence.
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