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Ripple Labs has decided to become a single global payment platform where banks and companies can use XRP, XRP Ledger and RLUSD. Ripple’s Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Reece Merrick, shared the update while highlighting the achievements made by the firm in the cryptocurrency space, providing financial services.
Institutional Infrastructure Powers Ripple’s Global Expansion
Notably, Ripple’s different services in the global financial space have been catering to the needs of different categories of users. Traditionally, banks allow users to make fiat payments, while a crypto exchange enables the trade of digital assets.
The safe storage of crypto assets is handled by a custodian, while a liquidity provider engages in currency conversion. Merrick maintains that Ripple now wants to replace all that fragmented system with ‘multiple vendors’ with one platform.
That is, Ripple will become a ‘one-stop shop’ meant to handle all forms of financial transactions using its established infrastructure. So, instead of users juggling different platforms or moving between vendors, Ripple alone will meet their diverse needs.
This could be payments in fiat currencies like U.S. dollars, euros, yen, among others. Ripple will also handle cryptocurrencies, stablecoins like RLUSD, and custody services to secure storage of digital assets.
Merrick assured that Ripple has built institutional scale platform to handle all these services under one roof. He assures that Ripple’s infrastructure could cater to banks, fintechs, and large financial institutions.
Ripple’s capacity is in the over $100 billion that it has processed for users while operating in over 60 markets. The firm has also provided 51 real-time rails, that is, payment networks that enable instant transfers across the globe at a fast speed.
Interestingly, Ripple does all of these by complying with regulatory authorities as it currently holds over 75 licenses in countries where it operates. Ripple’s USD stablecoin (RLUSD) has also gained traction in the broader crypto space, hitting over $1 billion in market cap within one year.
Africa as Key Growth Market for Ripple’s Stablecoins
One notable region where Ripple is leveraging its RLUSD is the African fintech market.
Reece Merrick says Africa has an over 9% adoption rate of stablecoins for cross-border payments in trade and financial inclusion.
Hence, Ripple has partnered with businesses in the region, including Chipper Cash, Yellow Card, and VALR, to tap into the growing market in Africa.
Ripple’s strategy is to bridge the digital asset liquidity gap and also offer solutions to specific challenges in the region.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
