Today, Ripple offers several beneficial services. First of all, Ripple XRP is the third most popular cryptocurrency. But Ripple is also a private company that sells software mainly for banks and businesses. They currently offer xCurrent, xRapid and xVia. And now, Ripple announced that they’re combining all three to create one payment network: They’re calling it Ripple Convergence.
Ripple is putting xCurrent, xRapid and xVia all on the same platform. Specifically, Ripple Convergence will be based on xRapid, which essentially gives banks a way to move money internationally without worrying about local currencies. This is especially beneficial for financial institutions in developing nations, or any time that liquidity—meaning transferring assets from one currency to another—slows down transactions or devalues currencies.
Though Ripple XRP is a cryptocurrency that you can buy and trade like Bitcoin, this recent announcement highlight that they are far from the same thing. First and foremost, Ripple is a private company; Bitcoin isn’t a company at all. And while Bitcoin came out of the 2008 Recession as a backlash against financial institutions, Ripple designs its products for the big banks and has Ripple donated over $105 million to education and FinTech.
Recently, the Ripple CEO foreshadowed that dozens of banks will be using Ripple’s platform by 2019. Ripple has been working with American Express, Santander, Western Union and many others to integrate RippleNet into payment processing. In short, RippleNet is the decentralized system of banks and financial institutions that confirm payments via consensus. This is faster and cheaper than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm and allows Ripple to process thousands of payments a second.
And the unnamed product that banks will use could be Ripple’s new platform, Ripple Convergence. Keep in mind that Ripple has not formally announced that they’re combining xCurrent, xRapid and xVia Instead, it was Jim Chauncey-Kelly, Talents Acquisition Director at Ripple, who mentioned it in a recent interview.
How will this affect the value of XRP, Ripple’s cryptocurrency? And when will major financial institutions officially integrate Ripple’s new platform? Ripple’s leak leaves the crypto and financial communities will a lot of questions regarding the future of one of the world’s hottest decentralized ledger technology companies.
First and foremost, Ripple Convergence won’t be available for months. They weren’t prepared for this announcement, and it’s still in its earliest phases. However, when it is available, Ripple’s new platform could change the way financial institutions process international payments. Banks, credit card companies, and crypto exchanges can all benefit from xRapid, nevermind xVia and xCurrent, which also help businesses, rather than just banks, process payments.
One thing is for sure: Ripple is already one of the most efficient and widely used cryptos out there. And it’s possible that Ripple Convergence will be a big part of the blockchain financial services revolution.
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