A recent delay to an international bank-led payment settlement initiative is just more evidence that legacy financial institutions need to adopt XRP, according to a former Ripple executive.
First proposed in 2015 by Swiss bank UBS Group AG and London-based blockchain R&D company Clearmatics, the payments project – originally known as the “Utility Settlement Coin” – is designed to provide bank-backed digital versions of major currencies.
Last year, the project’s partners and founding shareholders, including banking giants Banco Santander and Credit Suisse, founded the company, Fnality International to spearhead the initiative.
While the project hoped to launch the digital currencies in 2020, Fnality International officials now say it is still awaiting regulatory approval. The company now hopes to get the green light in the first quarter of 2021. In the interim, Fnality has been building technological know-how according to International Chief Executive Rhomaios Ram.
Cory Johnson, a journalist who worked as Ripple’s chief market strategist from 2018-2019, says the delay is evidence that banks need blockchain technology.
Ripple’s cross-border payments product, On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), utilizes crypto exchanges and XRP.
The exchanges accept cash, move the equivalent value in XRP across borders, and then convert it right back to fiat currency. The transactions can process in seconds as long as there is sufficient XRP liquidity in the marketplace, minimizing volatility risk.
Ripple has long worked to convince regulators to adopt constructive cryptocurrency regulations to support the emerging industry. Last year, the company took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal asking Congress to recognize the legitimacy of blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
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