The co-founder of Ripple is currently assembling a group of engineers and business leaders to open up a brand-new area of space exploration.
Jed McCaleb, the co-founder of Ripple and a pioneer in blockchain technology, is refocusing some of his attention on a new area: space.
On September 12, the well-known cryptocurrency billionaire announced the beginning of his new business, “Vast,” which aims to increase “human habitation in space” and “enable a future where millions of people are living across the solar system.”
The space habitation start-up, which McCaleb founded in 2021, will be responsible for building the first artificial-gravity space station, essentially enabling people to live and work in space.
eDonkey2000, one of the biggest file-sharing networks at the time, was formed by McCaleb in 2000. In 2007, he founded another firm that produced the videogame The Far Wilds. McCaleb has a lengthy history of being on the bleeding edge of technology.
He co-founded Ripple Labs, however, he left the company in June 2013, and he is the developer of Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange, a well-known trading card website that was later transformed into a Bitcoin exchange named Mt. Gox in 2011.
In 2014, McCaleb established the Stellar Development Foundation after quitting Ripple.
In order to help humanity access the “huge number of riches” in our solar system, McCaleb claims he intends to apply his knowledge as follows:
“I have always believed in leveraging technology to reduce inefficiency and improve the human condition. To expand human habitation in space, we have to create technologies that perfect sustainability.”
McCaleb claims that in order to develop technology that has only previously been seen in science fiction, he is putting together a “world-class team” of engineers with the assistance of numerous seasoned business professionals.
“Artificial gravity is not science fiction. It only requires a large spinning structure. The resulting centrifugal force provides a gravity-emulative pull.”
The International Space Station (ISS) will be decommissioned and deorbited by NASA in 2031, which could open the door for private companies to step in and offer replacement facilities.
Although the source of Vast’s money for the space station project is unknown, as of 2022, McCaleb’s net worth was estimated by Forbes to be at least 2.5 billion dollars.
The billions of XRP tokens he acquired as a founder member of Ripple Labs in 2012, which he had been gradually selling off over the period of eight years until July 18, when his supply ran out, is what some sources, however, assert to be substantially greater.
