Reality Check: Does McDonald's Currently Accept Payments in $XRP?

The cryptocurrency community loves sensational headlines, especially when they imply widespread adoption. Over the weekend, such a headline took over X, claiming that McDonald's will start accepting payments in XRP from today (Monday, August 4, 8) at select locations in the United States. Broadcast Statement: XRP For Your Big Mac? On August 3rd, a post from the account @Ripple_queen claimed: "🚨 BREAKING NEWS: MCDONALD'S WILL TEST PAYMENT WITH #XRP 🍔💸 Starting from MONDAY, selected locations in the United States will begin accepting $XRP..." The post describes this as a "potential game-changing moment" for cryptocurrency payments and the XRP Ledger. The post suggests that customers may soon be able to pay for fast food in just a few seconds using XRP, and concludes with the phrase: "It would be amazing if that's true!". Of course, the post has gone viral on cryptocurrency Twitter. Small creators and some XRP fans have started discussing it. This moment seems reasonable as the price of XRP is skyrocketing, and its market capitalization has just surpassed that of McDonald's. But is that true? No Notification? No Agreement Here are the reasons why this rumor is not true. No announcement from McDonald's or Ripple: Both companies have yet to confirm anything regarding payments with XRP. There are no press releases, blog updates, or public statements. With such a major move, you would expect an official announcement, especially from Ripple, the company that usually discloses information as required when entering new markets. The accusation began from a tweet of unclear origin: The original post used vague terms like "allegedly" and did not cite any sources. That is a suspicious sign. Even in the responses, many users pointed out that there is no evidence and called it speculation. XRP is not used for retail payments like this: XRP has legitimate applications, primarily in cross-border banking transactions and transfers for institutions. That does not mean it is being applied at fast food chains. Ripple's partnerships have always focused on financial infrastructure, not retail pilot projects. Maybe in the future. But not at the moment. Why Did the XRP x McDonald's Rumor Spread So Quickly? To be fair, XRP has had a few weeks of strong growth. Recently, this token has surpassed McDonald's in market capitalization, exceeding 215 billion dollars. It has increased by 4.11% in the past 24 hours, currently trading around 2.99 dollars. And with the ample investment flow from institutions weekly, the market is clearly showing confidence. So, when someone claims that XRP is entering the fast food sector, everyone is ready to believe it. Final Decision: Not Correct There is no partnership between McDonald's and XRP. You will not be able to buy a Big Mac with cryptocurrency today. That statement is just a baseless rumor. If there are any changes, you will hear information from official sources.