Per a report published on August 15, Ripple, a blockchain based cross-border payments platform has its eyes set on the Chinese market. An executive from the company told CNBC that China is “definitely a target” for expansion of the company’s operations.
Vice president of European Union strategic accounts at Ripple, Jeremy Light told CNBC in a telephonic interview, “China is a country and region of interest.”
Chinese Expansion on the Horizon
This is not the first attempt made by the company to make inroads into the Chinese economy. In February 2018, Ripple cemented a deal with LianLian International, as the latter joined the RippleNet to foster quick payments within the country. The agreement entailed LianLian using xCurrent, an end-to-end settlement solution developed by Ripple to simplify cross-border payments between China, Europe and the United States of America.
Although Ripple boasts of more than 100 financial institutions on its network, having just one Chinese client does dent its Chinese presence. The company has a daunting task to popularize the service it offers in Asia’s biggest economy, as the current Chinese payments market is dominated by major players like Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Some of the heavyweight clients of Ripple include UniCredit, UBS and Standard Chartered.
However, Ripple has had a taste of success in Asia. In March this year, it was reported that Ripple had developed a blockchain fueled payment app Money Tap in Japan, in partnership with more than 60 Japanese banks.
Ripple Not to Bank on XRP
However, it seems unlikely that Ripple would put its crypto token XRP at the forefront in the Chinese economy. Last year, China banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in the country as an attempt to safeguard the investors. The year 2018 has witnessed rampant cases where millions of Dollars have vanished overnight due to ICO scams.
The following chart sheds ample light on XRPs subtle movement throughout the year. The digital currency established its all-time high of $3.81 in January this year. However, it has plummeted ever since and is now trading at a value of just 0.29 Cents in the market with an overall tumble of more than 90 percent.
Amidst another bearish phase of crypto markets, it remains to be seen what the future holds for XRP. Although the idea behind the digital token looks good on paper, it is equally as essential to implement the idea in the real world.
