Tag: ripple

Current Crypto Sector in Dire Need of Professional Education, Asserts Ripple Executive

Ken Weber, the social impact head at Ripple, has asserted that global universities ought to expand their educational scope so that they can offer digital assets and blockchain programs. The training courses should correlate with the actual tasks needed in the crypto and blockchain industries.

Weber noted the huge deficit witnessed in this sector’s workforce, and this is being propelled by the lack of relevant educational resources. In his analysis, he cited a study that acknowledges the existence of a 517% rise in the demand for software engineers with a specialty in blockchain development in the last year. Nevertheless a vast gap exists because the supply is considerably outweighed by demand. 

He stipulates:

“A large part of the issue is that companies need two types of blockchain professionals. Firstly, they need engineers who possess a deep understanding of the technologies and can implement changes immediately. Secondly, they need to fill non-technical roles with senior employees who can make decisions involving the application of blockchain to business objectives. To do this, however, these employees need a working knowledge of the technology. The industry has a well-documented, yet growing skills gap that must be fixed.”

Weber has also called for blockchain courses to be more precise. Expressly, he notes that at least 40% of the top 50 global universities present more than one crypto or blockchain classes, but they are linked to distinctive areas, such as mathematics, law, business administration, and engineering. Weber believes these institutions can be more precise by presenting courses that relay the actual tasks in the sector.

Weber’s concerns correlate with Chen Xin’s views, a senior official at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, who recently affirmed that the present blockchain industry is being hindered by the structural scarcity of talents. 

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Visa's New Debit Card Rumored to Use XRP for Payments

According to an announcement made yesterday, Moneygram had liaised with Visa with plans to launch a peer-to-peer debit card service. This was made known in the details of the recent news of the acquisition of payment service operator MoneyGram by Ripple. There was a lot of anticipation by the XRP community that this debit card might make use of XRP token for fast transfers. 

Head of MoneyGram, Alex Homes said that with this new collaboration, they intend to create the best platform that provides ease and best user experience for sending and receiving money across the globe. Currently, the US is the only country the Debit card is available in.

Visa and MoneyGram are making plans to extend the reach of the project to other regions as well. There seem to be reasons to believe that XRP could be adopted as a payment method, given the link-up between MoneyGram and Visa, with Ripple being affiliated with the former.

MoneyGram currently makes use of Ripple’s xRapid to make payments around the globe using XRP as a means of payment when it goes beyond the US. However, Ripple has not made any comments/remarks regarding these speculations.

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Bank of America Plays Ripple Project Close to Chest

Bank of America (B of A) has been keeping its blockchain contingency plans under wraps for the better half of a decade. According to a tweet from CoinDesk’s Nick Carmillo, B of A has been quietly testing Ripple’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) and a recent job posting from the bank now indicates they may be planning to take it to the next level.

In a presentation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year, Ripple did label the B & A as an active customer. A spokesperson for Ripple told CoinDesk that B of A has been a member of its steering group for the network of institutions that leverage Ripple products—Ripplenet. She also divulged that Ripple and B of A had conducted a pilot project together but both Ripple and the bank have chosen not to comment on the specifics of the project. From the presentation made to the IMF however, it could be deduced that B of A has allegedly conducted tests with Ripple’s xCurrent payment system.

B of A Continues to Future Proof In an interview with Bloomberg on April 20th, 2016, Cathie Bessant, Tech and Operations Chief revealed that B of A had been quietly stockpiling blockchain patents despite admitting that while she kept an open-mind, she was “bearish” on the technology in her personal opinion. At the time of the interview, Bessant revealed that B of A were miles ahead of any other financial firm after revealing the bank’s 86 patent application had been made under her watch—JP Morgan had only six applications for comparison. The revelation that B of A has allegedly been conducting tests on Ripple’s xCurrent, indicated that despite Bessant’s public skepticism on blockchain, the bank has continued to reserve their place in the IP (intellectual property) chain and indeed may be taking DLT initiatives further than previously anticipated.

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Ripple Expands Global Regulatory Team and Joins Blockchain Association

Ripple, the San Francisco-based blockchain startup, just announced its inclusion of four new members into its global regulatory team in Washington, D.C. These new members are; Craig Phillips, Michelle Bond, Ron Hammond, and Susan Friedman. At the same time, Ripple also announced that is has been incorporated into the Blockchain Association – an association that plays a fundamental role in the future of digital assets. This was announced in a blog post on Oct. 22.

According to the report, before being chosen by Ripple, Phillips Craig worked in the United States Treasury Department, where he served as Counselor to the Secretary. Through the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Compliance Policy, Craig oversaw regulatory issues in the financial system under Executive Order 13772, alongside efforts to enhance the financial sector’s cybersecurity. At Ripple, Phillips will advise on strategic regulatory opportunities and also will provide counsel to Ripple’s leadership team.

Michelle Bond, on the other hand, served as the global head of policy at Blockchain and Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy at Bloomberg, and Senior Counsel at both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Senate Banking Committee. Bond will lead the expanded global regulatory team in engaging with policymakers.

Friedman previously served as the Senior Advisor to CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert. At Ripple, she will be working as an international policy counsel. Ron Hammond previously served as a Legislative Assistant to Representative, Warren Davidson, while at Ripple Hammond will serve as a manager of government relations.

Ripple indicated their excitement of being included as members of the Blockchain Association noted that the association provides a unified voice that will help to build close partnerships between technology leaders and policymakers.

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Ripple Customers to Seamlessly Interact via RippleNet Home

RippleNet Home, an innovative product by Ripple, is set to revolutionize the way customers partner and connect on this platform. Ripple has proven to be a cryptocurrency behemoth, and it seeks to optimize satisfactory rates among its clients. 

RippleNet Home was showcased in a presentation during 2019’s SWELL Conference. This product will also benefit companies as they will be able to get real-time insights about the performance and payment flows. 

RippleNet Home will, therefore, permit firms to propel their capacities, as well as boost their presence in different markets across the globe. Notably, the process of suiting partners will be simplified because this platform will enable companies to analyze the market size for like-minded businesses.

Ripple customers will also benefit from the RippleNet Home framework as they will get an instant settlement and lower rates through Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service. Ripple has been making considerable partnerships across the globe. For instance, it recently collaborated with one of the biggest commercial banks in Pakistan called Faysal Bank Limited (FBL). 

As reported by Blockchain.News on Oct. 23, Ripple revealed the inclusion of four new members into its worldwide regulatory team in Washington, D.C. Additionally, this company got incorporated into the Blockchain Association. 

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SBI Group Introduces Blockchain-Based Money Transfer Service Between Japan And Vietnam

SBI Ripple Asia recently announced that it has joined hands with SBI Remit to provide money transfer services between Japan and Vietnam using blockchain technology. Of course, the two Japanese companies are working with a local Vietnamese bank – Tien Phong commercial joint-stock bank, for making the transfer in fiat currency.    

SBI Group is the holding company that controls SBI Ripple Asia and SBI Remit as separate subsidiaries. While SBI Remit provides international money transfer services to clients, SBI Ripple Asia provides distributed ledger technology and blockchain-based fintech solutions to clients.   

Blockchain is changing money transfer

According to the latest report, Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank (TPBank), SBI Ripple Asia, and SBI Remit have just introduced the first money transfer services between Vietnam and Japan using RippleNet distributed ledger technology.

The CEO of Vietnamese TPBank, Nguyen Hung said that their partnership with SBI Ripple Asia on the use of blockchain technology in cross-border money transfer marks a significant turning point in enhancing their customer experience. He further recognized that the application of blockchain makes an international money transfer via TPBank safer, more convenient, and faster than ever before.

Nguyen disclosed that transactions are now being processed faster while ensuring cash flows, transparency, and safety are legally transferred via foreign banks to Vietnam. He explained that transactions at TPBank are ensured to comply with all foreign and domestic regulations and anti-money laundering laws.   

On the other hand, Yoshitaka Kitao – a representative of SBI Group – praised the progressive stance that TPBank has made towards adopting cutting-edge technologies. He mentioned that SBI Ripple Asia is intending to adopt RippleNet to provide remittance services of crypto-assets in the future. He added that such adoption will further distinguish the firm from its competitors.

Meanwhile, RippleNet blockchain is a trusted platform network that many payment providers, financial institutions, and banks use to speed up remittance transactions. RippleNet platform is a preferred choice because of its existing relationships with other banks across the world. Ripple is aggressively expanding in global markets. Recently, the firm partnered with Finastra in the UK to allow its customers to access cross-border payments services using RippleNet.   

The SBI Group eyes Vietnam market

Yoshitaka identified the booming Vietnamese economy as one of the most attractive markets across the world. The SBI Group owns a 19.9% share of TPBank and invested in the bank since 2009. TPBank has steadily accumulated non-interest income and loans like settlement services, by actively deploying cutting-edge technologies.

In 2017, TPBank became one of the top banks in Vietnam with assets more than $5.3 billion. The bank focuses on e-banking and digital transformation and has a money transfer app that enables customers to send money with a QR code.

Japan has a huge number of Vietnamese populations who live in the country. The number increased 4.57 times over the last five years to reach over 330,000 by 2018.  

SBI has been keen to see potential opportunities in untapped markets. No wonder, the company has rushed to launch the first money transfer services between Vietnam and Japan.

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Ripple Invests in MoneyGram Equity Honoring Commitment to Accelerate and Expand On-Demand Liquidity

MoneyGram has announced that Ripple has made the final $20 million investment in MoneyGram equity pursuant to Ripple’s original $50 million equity investment commitment made earlier this year. 

In a press release on Nov. 25, it was announced that Ripple purchased the newly-issued equity from MoneyGram at $4.10 per share, paying a significant premium on MoneyGram’s market prices. The funding will support MoneyGram’s operations as the company continues to increase volume and use of On-Demand Liquidity, Ripple’s product that leverages the digital asset XRP.

“Our partnership with Ripple is transformative for both the traditional money transfer and digital asset industry – for the first time ever, we’re settling currencies in seconds. This initial success encourages us to expedite expanding our use of On-Demand Liquidity,” said Alex Holmes, MoneyGram Chairman and CEO. “Partnerships with companies like Ripple support innovation and allow us to invest in creating better customer experiences. I anticipate furthering our growth into new corridors and exploring new products and services.”

MoneyGram is currently moving approximately 10 percent of its Mexican Peso foreign exchange trading volume through On-Demand Liquidity and has already started transacting in four additional cross-border corridors, including Europe, Australia, and the Philippines since the partnership with Ripple was announced in June 2019. 

Earlier this year, Ripple made an initial investment of $30 million in MoneyGram equity at the same time that it signed the commercial agreement with MoneyGram for cross-border settlement using digital assets. After this most recent $20 million investment, Ripple will own 9.95 percent of the outstanding common stock of MoneyGram, and approximately 15 percent on a fully-diluted basis including non-voting warrants held by Ripple.

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XRP Status Classified as Unclear, Meanwhile Analysts Say XRP Price Could Jump to $0.30

The US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Heath Tarbert indicated in an interview that the status of XRP had been classified as unclear. He said, “It’s unclear. Stay tuned I’d say. Part of the issue is that our jurisdiction we share with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). If it’s a security, it falls under their jurisdiction. If it’s a commodity, it falls under ours.” 

Tarbert also added that the CFTC and SEC would be working together to classify the status of various cryptocurrencies. According to Tarbert, Bitcoin and Ethereum are classified as commodities. XRP, however, does not fall into this classification, as the token is used on RippleNet by Ripple to enable fund transfers globally, and has been used as a store of value.  

Is XRP ready to push above its resistance? 

XRP has been staying in the mid $0.20 region, proven to be a strong support level prior to its drop to $0.18 in Q4 2019. The bullish trend in the crypto market has been positive for major altcoins such as XRP to push against a key resistance. If the resistance is broken in the next few days, it could lead to a significant spike reaching new multi-month highs.  

Crypto Rand, a crypto analyst said that he believes that XRP could push upwards past $0.30. 

Popular crypto analyst stated in a tweet, “XRP – 6 month RSI technical level broke yesterday, here is where the 6 month descending trend line rejected yesterday but very likely breaks up today.” 

MoneyGram’s expansion into India, a win for Ripple’s adoption 

MoneyGram, a multinational payment remittance platform previously partnered with Ripple, for its on-demand liquidity for cross-border transactions. Using XRP is the bridge between two fiats for transactions, this ensures a faster and more efficient transfer. This resulted in MoneyGram’s improved speed of the settlement of transactions, as XRP adoption also increased.  

MoneyGram recently partnered with EbixCash, to expand the former’s presence in India. According to a press release, it states that Ebixcash is owned by a software application product supplier, who is responsible for MoneyGram’s expansion into the Indian market. As MoneyGram will get access to more consumers in India, the company will also get access to hit the rural areas in the country.  

Alex Holmes, MoneyGram’s CEO believes that Ripple’s on-demand liquidity could be a game-changer, although it is currently in its early days. Ripple has already put together a list of partners who are using or planning to use on-demand liquidity. 

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Which Cryptocurrency Was Most Correlated to Rest of the Crypto Market In 2019?

A reportpublished by research projections from Binance released figures which amounted to ETH (Ether), averaging a correlation coefficient of 0.69. The research showed the following comparative values; “Ether is the highest correlated asset. With an average correlation coefficient of 0.69 throughout 2019, it is consistently among the most correlated assets. The coefficient started at 0.69 in Q1 and rose to 0.72 in Q4 (Q2: 0.65; Q3: 0.74).” Findings from the report show that Ether was relatively less correlated in the earlier half of 2019. The incline of its correlation began in the second half.

What was most interesting is that research shows that ‘programmable blockchains,’ for instance, Ethereum, NEO, and EOS showed moderately higher correlations in comparison to non–programmable assets. The most significant contrast was amongst those assets with the lowest correlation, namely Cosmos, standing at a correlation of 0.31. To add are Chainlink (LINK) and Tezos (XTZ) at coefficients of 0.32 and 0.4, respectively.

The “Binance Effect,” which was highlighted in the article, reveals that cryptos listed on Binance resembled higher correlations than those that are not listed. Additionally, the relationship between BTC and well- known commodities such as Gold is debatable, but recent data reveals that it is significantly less correlated than popular belief. 

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National Bank of Egypt Delves into Blockchain-Powered Inward Remittances with Ripple Partnership

Egypt’s biggest and oldest bank, the National Bank of Egypt, seeks to revamp its inward remittances with blockchain technology. As a result, the bank has entered a partnership with Ripple to use its blockchain-powered payments network RippleNet to offer cost-friendly and quicker cross-border payments. 

The National Bank of Egypt to expand its dominance with blockchain

According to top officials at the National Bank of Egypt, this agreement was made in anticipation of the bank’s expansion plans, as their research suggests that blockchain-propelled remittance payments will optimize productivity. With the enhanced capacity to ease the bottleneck flow of remittances in the region, the bank will be able to expand its network and influence throughout Egypt, North Africa, and the Middle East. 

The signing of the cooperation agreement was overseen by various top management players of the central bank, including Hisham Okasha, the chairman, and Dalia El-Baz, the vice-chairman of the board, among others. 

Okasha acknowledged that the bank’s primary objective in recent times is the provision of better remedies in inward remittances. He highlighted that with RippleNet, the National Bank of Egypt would become the first bank to provide such a service through blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

El-Baz stated that RippleNet comprises at least 300 banks and financial institutions across the globe, and this number is expected to increase exponentially based on the benefits rendered. As a result, the National Bank of Egypt does not want to be left behind in this bandwagon as blockchain technology will enhance the institution’s foreign currency earnings and liquidity management. 

By leveraging RippleNet’s blockchain solutions, the bank seeks to expand its customer base by offering more efficient and faster cross-border payment procedures. Banks across the globe have been making considerable strides in the crypto space. For instance, DAG Global has shown intentions of setting a precedent as the first UK Bank to support cryptocurrency businesses as this will bridge the gap witnessed in this nation. 

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