One of the oldest, most controversial cryptos on the market, Ripple, was founded in San Francisco back in 2012.
They seem to have taken on the role of the cryptosphere “black sheep.” Common criticisms say they’re a centralized blockchain option for businesses, here to curtail the looming revolution that blockchain technology has in store for the world.
Critiques aside, Ripple has been making serious moves since its inception. They don’t only offer their native token, XRP, with a convenient use case.
Out of the 3 services that RippleNet offers, only 1 of them calls for using XRP: xRapid.
At the Crypto Finance Conference in California, Ripple CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen described his vision for xRapid’s part in the evolution of the remittance market, stating:
[xRapid] allows payment providers, banks and their customers to move value in one to two minutes versus days or a process that might mask those days but have to charge for the settlement risk and costs.
While much of the industry is quiet, Ripple is in the process of making waves.
7 Companies Ready to Use xRapid
As the company continues to expand internationally, they’re finding an increasing number of business and industries that will save time and money by using xRapid.
They’re building their use case by piloting the xRapid program with the following 7 companies.
Bittrex
Bittrex is one of the most popular US-based exchanges in the industry. They’ve also created blockchain incubators to work with teams around the world, aiming “to advance new, inventive tokens that could potentially transform the way goods, services and operations are managed globally,” as stated on their website.
Bitso
Bitso is a Mexican Bitcoin exchange that allows users to purchase crypto in more than 135,000 locations across the country, and make transactions with their bank accounts instantly, without cost.
Bitso also offers APIs for developers to build on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, as well as multi-signature wallets for increased security.
Coins.ph
Coins.ph is a digital wallet and exchange based in the Philippines, allowing users to pay for living expenses, load up their cell phone accounts, send and receive money, buy cryptocurrency, and more — without the need for a bank account.
Mercury FX
Mercury FX is a global currency specialist that strives to offer their clients the lowest international transaction fees possible.
In an April 2018 tweet, they praised xRapid for lowering costs and increasing transparency and payment speeds. They went on to state that they are “looking forward to continued successful testing and going into production.”
SBI Virtual Currencies
SBI Virtual Currencies is a Japanese cryptocurrency trading platform that allows it’s user to buy Ripple, Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Cash with their fiat currency, JPY.
They listed XRP exclusively for their launch, and plan to join xRapid to aid international transactions.
Cuallix
Cuallix has more than 25 years of experience working in Mexico, China, and the United States. They offer digital content products, focusing on payment processing and credit provision solutions for companies and individuals.
Their business solution is structured as an API network that allows for payment processing, 24/7 cash management, and money transferring. Some of their more notable partnerships are with MasterCard, UnionPay, and SWIFT.
ZIP Remit
ZIP Remit is a Canadian-based company that began in East Africa. The company operates with a proprietary platform in order to move funds in a safe and secure manner.
By using xRapid, the multinational ZIP Remit team is aiming for faster transactions while collaborating with G7 regulators.
Conclusion
Although the companies listed above are helping to lay the groundwork for xRapid, this isn’t the beginning for xRapid partnerships. Ripple Labs has already partnered with Cambridge Global Payments, IDT Corporation, and MoneyGram.
Ripple also worked with Western Union, who later announced that working with xRapid didn’t save them time or money, suggesting xRapid might be a better fit for smaller business and startups. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.
While an exact release date hasn’t been set, Sagar Sarbhai, head of Government & Regulatory Relations for Ripple, stated to CNBC that:
I am very confident that in the next one month or so you will see some good news coming in where we launch the product live in production.
Related: Ethereum and Ripple Take the Spotlight as They Repeatedly Trade Places as 2nd Biggest in the Market
