Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, says that “dozens” of banks will be using XRP to conduct cross-border transactions in 2019.
While most cryptocurrencies do their best to have nothing to do with centralization, San Francisco-based Ripple is taking the opposite tack. They work hand-in-hand with banks to create transaction systems that are faster and cheaper than current models.
Ripple Expanding in 2019
Ripple currently has several blockchain-based products that they are using with centralized financial institutions, such as xCurrent and xRapid. It is the latter solution that Brad Garlinghouse says will have banks climbing on board throughout 2019.
Ripple CEO says 'dozens' of banks will use its cryptocurrency product in 2019 https://t.co/D7QYYZP8Uq pic.twitter.com/BUSHs1SlDm
— CNBC International (@CNBCi) June 5, 2018
In an interview with CNBC at the Money 20/20 Europe fintech conference in Amsterdam, Garlinghouse said:
I’ve publicly stated that by the end of this year I have every confidence that major banks will use xRapid as a liquidity tool. You know, by the end of next year, I would certainly hope that we would see you know in the order of… dozens.
What makes xRapid so intriguing to banks is that it drastically cuts down liquidity costs. Usually, banks need pre-funded local currency accounts in the many markets that they send payments into. This need greatly increases liquidity costs. xRapid reduces such costs by converting the money being sent into XRP, Ripple’s cryptocurrency, and then converting it back into the specific currency needed at the other side of the transaction.
What would normally take days to complete can be done in a matter of seconds by using XRP via xRapid. The transaction time for XRP is a mere four seconds.
On a Roll
While many cryptocurrency purists turn their noses up at Ripple, the company is gaining partnerships with banks and other financial institutions from all over the world. Recent additions include InstaReM, Beetech, Santander UK, and Kuwait Finance House.
KFH is the First Bank in Kuwait to Join RippleNet for cross-boarder Instant Payments utilizing blockchain technology
— بيت التمويل الكويتي (@KFHGroup) May 26, 2018
Garlinghouse is, naturally enough, bullish on the future prospects for XRP. As for Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, not so much. He recently stated that he believes Bitcoin could be the “Napster” of cryptocurrency, meaning that better systems will replace Bitcoin after it finishes paving the way for this new technology.
Ripple currently sits at the number three position on the cryptocurrency chart, with a total market cap of $26,488,814,778. XRP is currently trading for $0.675, an increase of 1.42 percent over the last 24 hours.
Images courtesy of Twitter/@CNBCi, Twitter/@KFHGroup, and Flickr/@Steve Jurvetson.