In an interview with Bloomberg in Singapore, Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, referred to Ripple XRP as one of the best performing digital currencies in the world. He anchors his statement on the cryptocurrency success story in settling the global payment issues.
Ripple’s XRP is a network that can never be sidelined in the crypto space, though bitcoin has taken a large space in the common minds about digital currencies. Ripple is the powerhouse for the digital asset XRP and also the payment platform through which the XRP currency is transferred.
The emergence of this cryptocurrency in 2012, brought about a lot of uncertainties, because of the domination of bitcoin. Though it is in the mold of bitcoin, its token XRP is not mined as such.
Ripple is a real-time gross payment settlement, a currency exchange and remittance network, owned by Ripple Lab. Inc. a US-based technology company.
This technology company acts as a settlement platform to other currencies. Its digital asset XRP can be used in replacement for other currency payments. It uses decentralized financial tools in its operations which has endeared the fintech to so many customers. Majority of Ripple customers are banks, businesses, and other financial institutions.
The CEO of Ripple is in no doubt proud of his company as he showed in his speech during the interview, pouring out how outstanding the company’s performance has been.
When he was asked by the interviewer,’’ why he thinks Ripple is better than its rivals.’’
He said; “Ripple as a company and its digital asset XRP have been able to gain value over time by solving real problems at scale. Ripple solves cross-border payment issues and sells new technology to banks. This is a liaison which has generated a lot of hype, but when this hype is separated from reality one would see some diversions. Ripple has been able to outperform its rivals because it is focused on solving real problems.”
Ripple aims to provide a platform for seamless and faster cross-border payment transaction across the globe. This can be easily achieved via its decentralized blockchain based financial tools, xRapid, xCurrent and xVia.
xRapid
This financial tool is used by banks and other financial institutions to solve the liquidity problem, by minimizing cost and offering better services to customers. It uses the cryptocurrency XRP to provide on-demand liquidity, at a lower cost using real- time.
xCurrent
This gives banks instant access to settle cross-border payments with-end-to-end tracking via Ripple platform. Banks use this tool to communicate with each other on payment issues before and after transactions are committed.
xVia
xVia is used to cooperate with payment transactions, banks and other payment providers use it to send payment across networks via a connection link. It allows the use of RippleNet by financial institutions and businesses to sent payments from one network to another.
In reply to the question; in terms of a key milestone in the next 12 months, what would that be that would drive another value of Ripple?
Mr. Garlinghouse said; “ more and more companies are entering the XRP ecosystem, like a micropayment company launched in 2018. People are leveraging the XRP payment platform which is extremely faster and extremely cheaper way to make payment and move value.”
In comparing XRP to bitcoin, he said “XRP is a thousand time faster and a thousand times cheaper than bitcoin when it comes to payment processing.’’
People are attracted to XRP because of the high value they derive from its use. Ripple uses the same technology at scale in connection with the banks and other financial institutions to make payment processing better.
He said; “this year has been a record year for Ripple which signs over two production contracts a week, with banks in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. The technology company has been able to stir this excitement and enthusiasm because it has been adding value by solving real problems.”
Ripple CEO talked about banks and institutional regulations, the need for a global framework.
He replied to the question, ‘why is there not yet full institutional adoption of Ripple technology by banks?
The CEO said that regulations have been a major challenge to institutions ready to adopt the crypto. Why there is high interest in the technology in a nation like Singapore is because the regulations are very clear.
The regulators spell out clearly how they would approach the cryptocurrency or blockchain, so investors already understand their stake in the business. So, more institutions are developing an interest in the crypto space.
He said that during the same invent in Singapore last year, about 30,000 people were in attendance, this year’s event even witnessed a higher attendance of 40,000 people. There is a higher level of institutional interest at both federal and state level. Ripple’s report for the last quarter revealed a higher interest in intuitional buyers of XRP than the network has ever recorded.
Discussing growth, he said that dealing with the challenges faced by the cryptocurrency to enable growth is “a global framework.” And there should be clarity of regulations around the blockchain and digital assets in other nations of the world just like in Singapore and other Asian countries.
While the Asian countries are experiencing growth in the crypto space, some other nations are slow, like the United States of America where there is a lack of clarity.
He would have predicted 2018 to be a year institutions would fully adopt the crypto but in this fourth quarter, the market has not achieved what is expected. The cause of this failure is mainly because the regulatory authority has not provided the security to support institutional adoption.
In answer to the question about Ripple coming together with SWIFT, he said
“SWIFT is owned by the banks and were are here to help the banks”
Ripple sees blockchain technology as a better option for banks than the outdated technology used by SWIFT which cannot meet up with the market demands. Since Ripple and SWIFT are working in connection with the banks, it is expected that coming together would enhance their performance.
In answer to the question ‘’is there any possibility that Ripple could take over SWIFT one day?.
“I think what we are doing and executing day by day is already taking over SWIFT”
The banks that use SWIFT software are now signing on with Ripple in hundreds and this is a clear sign that Ripple may likely take over SWIFT.
