Last week, Ripple was able to outperform altcoins and was even able to topple Ethereum’s $22 billion market cap momentarily. The spike in XRP’s value was mainly because of the new product xRapid that is aimed to help banks improve transaction speed by utilizing the cryptocurrency. According to Ripple, it is expected to go live by mid-October.
Ripple has described xRapid as a bridge between fiat and cryptocurrencies. How it works is that banks have pre-purchased XRP which will then be used to send funds across the border. This XRP will then be converted to the currency of choice.
The Second Time Around
This time around, Ripple was able to become the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap on Wednesday, September 26. XRP was able to gain 22% in a matter of 24 hours. On the other hand, Ethereum simply gained 3%.
However, Ethereum regained the spot again. Ethereum’s market cap was at around $22.1 billion, while XRP was able to close with a $21.9 billion market cap. However, after seeing XRP’s price to go up in the last couple of days, there was a report that Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb “dramatically” stepped up selling his personal stash of XRP. However, McCaleb responded that he was still abiding by the terms of token sales that was drafted in 2016.
XRP Adoption
Though there are lawsuits that Ripple is dealing with, what made XRP’s value go up in recent weeks is adoption. Ripple has already partnered with financial institutions. They were able to build partnerships with Santander Bank, Western Union, and Money Gram as well. Ripple’s product xCurrent was used by these financial institutions. And also, according to Ripple, there are 120 other banks that are testing xCurrent.
Also, SBI Ripple Asia has recently announced that it is going to launch its highly awaited Money Tap App, this fall.
According to SBI Ripple Asia, “SBI Ripple Asia Co., Ltd. today completed registration as a substitute agent for electronic settlement etc. on September 26, 2018 (Act No. 2 of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, Electronic Settlement Agency No. 2). We will let you know as it has been done.
Only after receiving enrollment from the Treasury Department after the enforcement of the “Law to reform part of the banking law, etc.” on 1 June this year, it is now possible to conduct new businesses such as electronic payment in Japan . Electronic settlement, etc. The substitution business is to utilize IT such as open API to “obtain information such as the balance and usage history of the depositor’s bank account from the bank and provide it to the depositor” or “depositor “Transfer orders from bank accounts of other bank accounts to other bank accounts to banks on behalf of depositors”, etc”.
The Money Tap App makes use of Ripple’s Distributed Ledger Tech. What it offers is a frictionless payment ecosystem allowing peer-to-peer transfer of funds.
The Money Tap App is going to be launched in Japan initially and then tested by 3 member banks. Could it be a possibility that we are going to see XRP utilized more by banks and other financial institutions?
