What has Ripple (XRP) been up to this week? A lot!
Ripple is far from stuck in the XRP lawsuit. The blockchain firm has announced partnerships in CBDCs and payments, its digital asset continues to be listed on high-profile exchanges, and the lawsuit is rippling through.
Ripple is at the center stage of what comes next for the digital asset space as it enters the mainstream. The SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement practice has created the opportunity for the XRP creator to help set a precedent for the rest of the ecosystem.
It is no wonder that investors, executives, and compliance professionals want to stay up to date on what is happening in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit as well as the firm’s moves in terms of innovation, expansion, and new projects.
From Bhutan’s CBDCs to an expansion in LATAM and Africa to a listing on Bitfinex Derivatives, Ripple has seen it all this week, not to mention a shift in the SEC’s strategy, a win while losing a motion, and even rumors of a proprietary market-making platform.
Ripple partners with Bhutan to Pilot CBDC using private blockchain
The partnership was announced late this week. Bhutan expects to increase financial inclusion in the country to 85% by 2023 with the launch of a Ripple-powered CBDC Private Ledger. The technology allows central banks to access a network of CBDC Ledgers that enables full settlement interoperability, while ensuring monetary and technological independence.
Benoît Cœuré, head of the BIS Innovation Hub, has recently urged central banks to pick up the pace and launch their CBDCs before it’s too late with the rise of stablecoins, digital assets, and Big Tech. This is an opportunity for Ripple, which has also seen interest from Brazil and Europe.
XRP perpetual swaps added to Bitfinex Derivatives platform
The venue is also adding Algorand and Bitcoin to the derivatives trading platform, which offers users up to 100x leverage and will be settled in tether tokens (USDt) and bitcoin (BTC), respectively.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex Derivatives, said: “We’re delighted to announce the addition of algorand and ripple, bitcoin to the growing portfolio of perpetual swaps available to trade on the exchange. We anticipate great interest in these products, particularly among funds and professional investors for hedging purposes and to manage risk.”
Bitfinex Derivatives platform and products are only available in eligible jurisdictions, and are exclusive to verified users.
RippleNet powers PayDek’s expansion in LATAM and Africa
UK-based payments company, Paydek turned to Ripple to help address challenges for freelance workers, an industry that is expected to become a $455 billion market.
Legacy payment systems are not adept to meet the demands of our modern and on-demand world, leaving workers unpaid for several days before receiving a paycheck.
Paydek initially leveraged RippleNet to connect into Africa, a quickly growing hub for on-demand work, and has since expanded into Latin America in partnership with Localpayment.
Is Ripple building a market-making platform in Singapore? Yes or no?
Although a Ripple spokesperson has denied the rumor, a report from Coindesk based its story on sources familiar with the project. The claim is that recruitment has started in Singapore in London.
Such a platform could help Ripple to manage the liquidity of XRP even if other exchanges are forced to give it up in the future. This is particularly relevant amid the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit.
Ripple wins even when it loses
A recent motion filed by Ripple was denied by the court. The Defendants wanted access to the SEC’s employees XRP holdings to expose the SEC’s policies governing digital assets and their employees’ trading of XRP, ETH, and BTC. Those documents could support Ripple’s fair notice defense.
All in all, the ruling can still be perceived as a win for Ripple: the SEC refused to prove its internal policy against holding XRP, which naturally raises questions. The judge denied the motion but ordered the SEC to produce said documents.
SEC’s major shift is admission of defeat
A recent analysis by attorney Jeremy Hogan concluded that the SEC has failed to keep the court from comparing XRP and ETH despite all efforts. Now, the plaintiff seems to be forced to argue that the difference between XRP and Ether is that the Ripple ledger is not fully built out.
“That is a major shift in SEC strategy and major admission of a defeat for the SEC”, he said, as the original technical argument was that XRP has a centralized nature. The interrogations “under oath” are now the most important thing in the lawsuit, he said.
In the meantime, XRP Holders’ lawyer John Deaton has named names in the story “of an overreaching regulator unfairly picking winners and losers in the blockchain business space”. He pointed fingers at SEC officials, Ethereum’ Lubin, and Mike Novogratz.
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