Ripple Meets With National Bank of Georgia To Discuss Digitization of Country’s Economy

San Franscisco-payments firm Ripple is working with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) to digitize the local economy.

Acting governor Natia Turnava and Varlam Ebanoidze, head of the NBG’s tech development department, recently met with Ripple executive James Wallis to enhance financial technology cooperation, according to a LinkedIn post from June 8.

“Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, Natia Turnava, along with Varlam Ebanoidze, Head of the Financial and Supervisory Technology Development Department, held a meeting with James Wallis, Vice President of Ripple, and Alistair Brown, Vice President of EPAM Systems, during their visit to Tbilisi.

The discussion focused on exploring potential avenues for collaboration in the digitalization of the Georgian economy.

For context, Ripple serves as the technological partner for the National Bank of Georgia’s pilot project on the digital lari.”

The Georgian lari is the national currency of Georgia.

This is not the first meeting between Ripple and the Eurasian country. Last fall, Ripple announced a partnership with NBG to pilot the country’s new central bank digital currency (CBDC) program.

Said James Wallis, vice president of central bank engagements at Ripple, at the time,

“The National Bank of Georgia is taking a global lead in exploring how it can use blockchain technology to take its economy into the digital era. By harnessing the power of the Ripple CBDC Platform, this pilot will pave the way for transformative advancements in the utilization of blockchain technology within the public sector.”

Generated Image: Midjourney