Ripple's (XRP) Controversial Founder Has Emerged with a New Project Supported by Selling Billions of Dollars Worth of XRP!

Jed McCaleb, the crypto billionaire behind Mt. Gox, Ripple, and Stellar, is making a significant investment in the future of commercial space exploration. McCaleb is investing $1 billion of his fortune into the space venture Vast Space, which aims to build and launch the world's first commercial space station.

McCaleb, who accumulated significant wealth from the sale of XRP, is the sole financial backer of this ambitious venture. His total investments in Vast Space are approximately 3.2 billion dollars and primarily come from his personal assets and foundations, which reported 3.3 billion dollars in assets at the end of 2023.

Speaking from Vast Space's headquarters in Long Beach, California, McCaleb stated that he believes in the necessity of humanity expanding beyond Earth.

50-year-old McCaleb said, "It is very important for people to leap into this potential world where there are many humans living outside of Earth from the point we are at today," and added, "There aren't many people willing to allocate resources, time, and risk tolerance like I do."

If successful, Vast Space could secure a major contract from NASA next year to develop the successor to the International Space Station, which is planned to be retired by 2030, (ISS). However, McCaleb acknowledges the risks, stating that he is prepared to lose up to 1 billion dollars on this venture.

Vast Space leveraged industry expertise by hiring experienced managers and collaborating with SpaceX to increase its chances of success. The venture utilizes SpaceX technology, including a docking adapter to connect SpaceX's Dragon capsule to the space station and an in-orbit internet system supported by Starlink. Vast has already secured SpaceX flights to launch its hardware and transport astronauts, pending NASA's approval.