Google, Apple and other tech companies prefer blockchain technology to Visa

According to the International Business Times: Ripple Labs (San Francisco digital payment company) is committed to the development of blockchain technology and has announced its "InterLedger" Protocol project (ILP) to attract more customer targets, including Apple and Google.

ILP can be widely used at the technical level. As co-chair of the W3C's Web Payment Working Group, Ripple will be in regular contact with technology providers.

Stefan Thomas, Ripple’s chief technology officer, said:

“Apple, Google, Mozilla and other companies are looking for a better user experience for online payments, as there are still many problems with the network that relies solely on bank cards.

Tech companies hate card issuers

For these people, the Interledger protocol can effectively solve technical problems related to bank card networks. Thomas said: "Big technology companies absolutely do not agree with card issuers because they must share the market with themselves."

Thomas also said:

“Most technologists are concerned about Visa payments because this card checkout method directly competes with PayPal, Worldpay or other consumer-facing systems.

Thomas also noted:

“The problem Visa is facing now is that these technical personnel lack mutual communication within the industry, but the Interledger protocol can achieve interoperability very well.

Interledger aims to create a financial network interconnected with cryptocurrencies by the end of 2016 or early 2017. Connecting cryptocurrencies is an urgent problem that ILP needs to solve.

Encryption integration will be completed by the end of the year

In addition, he also said:

“Ripple will strive to use financial means to achieve solid integration with major cryptocurrencies by the end of 2016, which will be an important signal that the next step can be successfully implemented. At this point, it is possible to adopt some suggestions from client companies.

As mentioned before, almost all corporate departments have shown great interest in Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin's blockchain technology, with the exception of some large technology companies. Thomas mentioned in his blog that he has been thinking about the reasons for this phenomenon.

Thomas said:

Blockchain is hard work to build and hard to scale. That’s why some tech companies ignore it. They want to achieve immediate technical effectiveness and scalability, but blockchain technology is not there yet.

Blockchain technology will be used in more complex and mysterious systems. Therefore, people should be more tolerant of blockchain.

Interledger imitates HTTP

Thomas pointed out that Interledger is now closer to a network protocol. Interledger is more similar to HTTP than Bitcoin. Therefore, it has many characteristics of HTTP.

Thomas said:

“ILP is modeled after the Internet, with a routing algorithm running on top that finds a series of hops to reach any other ledger. In addition to connecting blockchains, ILP can provide an interoperable and centralized system for any ledger type.

ILP can limit risk

One of the most important goals of ILP is to limit the risk to user accounts. No connected ledger system or other ledgers should be exposed to connectivity issues. ILP completes the use of escrow after each payment hop.

For example, with Bitcoin, you place the money in escrow and receive proof of receipt from the recipient. The money is then released to the connector of the sender’s choice.

There will be two ledger accounts between the two connectors, and they must be trustworthy because the money flows through them. This is the same as the conditions for inflows and outflows.