Ripple's cryptocurrency product goes live for the first time with three financial firms
Ripple said xRapid, which uses cryptocurrency XRP to carry out international transactions, is now commercially available.
Ripple's cryptocurrency product for cross-border payments will go live for the first time with three financial institutions. The San-Francisco-based financial technology firm said Monday that xRapid, which uses the cryptocurrency XRP to carry out international transactions in "a matter of minutes," is now commercially available. It will be used by payment providers Mercury FX and Cuallix, as well as cooperative financial firm Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union, Ripple said. Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse was set to announce the news at the start-up's annual Swell conference, a two-day event attended by industry representatives, on Monday.
"I'm really excited to bring the product into the market at a time when there is a lot of skeptcism about digital assets and their real use case," Asheesh Birla, Ripple's senior vice president of product, told CNBC. "Here's something where we're finding a ton of value and providing a ton of value to our customers using digital assets to move money more efficiently."
Ripple says there is a distinction between it, a private company, and XRP, which is the native digital currency of an open source network known as the XRP Ledger. There has often been confusion between the two.
About Ripple's (XRP): Built for enterprise use, XRP offers banks and payment providers a reliable, on-demand option to source liquidity for cross-border payments. Using XRP, banks can source liquidity on demand in real time without having to pre-fund nostro accounts. Payment Providers use XRP to expand reach into new markets, lower foreign exchange costs and provide faster payment settlement. XRP consistently handles 1,500 transactions per second, 24x7, and can scale to handle the same throughput as Visa. XRP's five-year track record of stable technology and governance makes it ready for institutional and enterprise use.
Ripple’s (XRP) can be bought with fiat dollars, debit and credit cards on cryptocurrency exchanges such as CEX.io and Changelly.com.
