Here's how Coil ended up with $100 million to fund this grant (https://fortune.com/2019/09/16/grant-for-the-web-mozilla-coil https://fortune.com/2019/09/16/gran

Here's how Coil ended up with $100 million to fund this grant (https://fortune.com/2019/09/16/grant-for-the-web-mozilla-coil https://fortune.com/2019/09/16/grant-for-the-web-mozilla-coi...): > As for the source of the $100 million that will fund the project, Thomas said it came via a grant to Coil from Ripple, and that in some cases, the project will use XRP—the cryptocurrency that is an integral part of Ripple's operations—to settle financial transactions. … and here's why Ripple made the original (~$265 million USD) grant to Coil (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ripples-xpring-makes-1-billion-xrp-grant-to-drive-xrp-adoption-and-advance-coils-monetized-platform-for-creators-300902194.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ripples-xpring-make...) in August 2019: > Coil, a platform dedicated to reimagining monetization on the web for creators and their fans, today announced a 1 billion XRP grant from Ripple's Xpring. The money will be deployed towards driving adoption of XRP and the Interledger Protocol (ILP) by growing Coil's monetization platform through mainstream adoption of Web Monetization, an open web standard built on Interledger that enables streaming micropayments in any currency, including XRP. > … > The platform enables creators to post public and exclusive content on Coil, which is automatically enabled for streaming payments. Creators can web-monetize their own websites by adding a simple tag. Those who want to support creators using Coil can join the community with a $5 monthly subscription. There are no membership fees for creators. In May 2018, the first of several lawsuits was filed that allege XRP is a security: https://www.coindesk.com/investors-suing-ripple-cite-sec-guidance-to-argue-xrp-is-a-security https://www.coindesk.com/investors-suing-ripple-cite-sec-gui.... They're seeking class-action status to represent everyone who bought XRP. Matt Levine briefly mentioned Ripple while covering the broader question of how the SEC would classify coins: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-06-15/the-sec-will-leave-good-icos-alone https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-06-15/the-se.... Obviously Ripple is inherently motivated to see XRP adopted, but also, an active micropayment/content payment ecosystem might strengthen their claim that XRP is a utility coin and that their ICO wasn't an unregistered securities offering. Some background on this question: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/statement-clayton-2017-12-11 https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/statement-clayton-... Here's what that lawsuit alleges (http://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/716bee37-e45e-41d2-a4e1-2d966015a277.pdf http://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/716bee..., as amended Aug 2019): > Ripple claims that XRP has utility—like currency—in its use as a “bridge currency” for international payments. But, as discussed above, more than 60 percent of XRP is owned by Ripple and none of that XRP is used for anything at all, other than to be sold in the future to investors. Moreover, as for the XRP that was already sold or otherwise distributed by Defendants, the vast majority of it is not used for bridging international transactions, but for investment purpose. Accordingly, Defendants’ claim that XRP has a utilitarian purpose is nothing but a red herring attempt to avoid the application of securities laws.