Matthew Mellon Says XRP Helped Pay His Bills During Greece’s 2015 Banking Crisis

Matthew Mellon, a banking heir and then-global ambassador for Ripple Labs, said XRP helped him pay bills while he was in Mykonos during Greece’s 2015 banking crisis.

While visiting Mykonos, Mellon tried to pay at a restaurant, but it refused his credit card. The ATMs he tried had no euros. He asked whether the restaurant accepted Bitcoin (BTC), and it said it would take XRP. “Thanks to XRP, Ripple Labs, I was able to pay my restaurant, my taxi and my hotel bill,” Mellon said.

Crypto researcher SMQKE posted a clip of Mellon’s remarks on X on Oct. 26. The account concerns Greece’s 2015 banking crisis, when banks closed and capital controls restricted money movement. Mellon framed the experience as a shift toward mobile wallets, which he said let people control their money without a bank. He also described tourists crowding at the airport as they tried to leave the island.