Ripple Adoption and Use Cases Grow Solidifying XRP’s Price Rise
Ripple's journey upwards has kicked up a gear since mid-October, on the back of some good legal news.
- XRP has been on an incredible rally since October 18.
- The new-found confidence follows a huge win against the SEC in July.
- In recent days, Ripple has made a swathe of new announcements.
Ripple and XRP are having a commendable November so far. After a pivotal and far-reaching victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which a judge ruled XRP was not a security when sold to retail investors, Ripple is starting to look untouchable.
Already in the first seven days of the month, Ripple has announced a suite of partnerships and adoption of its native XRP token. The renewed confidence in XRP is contributing to its recent price increase.
Ripple Starts To Look Untouchable
XRP has been on an incredible rally since October 18, pumping approximately 43%. A significant chunk of that (approximately 16%) has come in the last seven days. A glance at Ripple’s announcement gives a clue as to why.
Ripple was founded in 2012 to develop a decentralized payments network and protocol to allow instant, global financial transactions. Its native XRP cryptocurrency is designed to facilitate fast, affordable cross-border payments and settlements for banks and financial institutions.
Before July’s win against the SEC, XRP’s prescribed function was somewhat in doubt. Classifying XRP as a security would likely have resulted in significant legal troubles, including potential claims from XRP holders seeking compensation for purchasing an unregistered security.
The company would likely have had to leave the U.S. market—not a mortal blow, but still a significant hurdle.
Now Ripple is in the clear, it seems the company can wheel out a significant number of partnerships and announcements. On November 7, the firm announced a collaboration with African payments company Onafriq to facilitate faster and cheaper cross-border payments between Africa and several new markets.
Onafriq is utilizing Ripple’s crypto-enabled payments network to open payment corridors between Africa and the UK, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Australia. This will enable speedier and more affordable remittances into Africa using Ripple’s blockchain technology.
Ripple Payments, Dubai, and Georgia’s CBDC
More importantly – and also on November 7 – Ripple announced an upgraded version of its cross-border payment solution, Ripple Payments (formerly known as RippleNet). It’s hoped the new product will help Web2 companies integrate blockchain into their services.
In another adoption boost, on November 2, the Dubai Financial Services Authority approved XRP as the first virtual asset for use in the Dubai International Financial Center. XRP joins Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin as approved assets, allowing licensed DIFC firms to offer XRP services.
Finally, on November 2, Ripple also announced the National Bank of Georgia selected it as the technology partner for the country’s digital currency pilot. Ripple’s CBDC platform will be utilized to test the potential use cases and benefits of a digital Lari.
The NBG cited Ripple’s technical excellence, expertise, and commitment as reasons for its selection following a competitive process. Ripple has seen growing interest in its CBDC platform, now engaged in pilots with 5 governments and central banks.
Legal Troubles in the Rear View Mirror
Whilst Ripple’s new list of partnerships is impressive. It’s not the news that unleashed XRP’s latest rally—although it certainly didn’t help.
What likely sparked a new round of investor and trader confidence was the news on October 19, that the SEC was no longer pursuing civil charges against Ripple executives Christian Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse. The civil lawsuit against the Ripple executives had been ongoing since December 2020.
In a U.S. context, what lies in front of Ripple is a much-anticipated sea of calm, after years of litigating its presence in the world’s largest crypto market . Much of Ripple’s future success will depend on the implementation of its use case—to facilitate better international payments through its blockchain-based technology.
Whether or not that happens will depend on adoption by financial institutions, and the technical details. A welcome return to boring.
