Ripple made waves when it launched its payment protocol platform back in 2012, jumping on ー if not initiating ー the global cryptocurrency fever of the time. Their application made it easier for companies and institutions to pay people in a wide range of currencies, points, and tokens. In short, it has been a financial revelation.
The company has facilitated online transactions so much that it’s now being integrated into a whole range of applications. For instance, you can play Ripple casino games online using cryptocurrency, helping you easily access your favorite games. But the undoubted headline for Ripple is the fact that real-life US banks are now poised to adopt its XRP for us in global trading.
Does this mean Ripple’s XRP will become a new global standard for currency?
Many people have been speculating that the US banks’ adoption of XRP will turn it into a global standard for trading, much like how gold has been used traditionally. After all, if US banks ー some of the most powerful in the world ー are accepting Ripple’s XRP as a trading standard, surely others will follow?
In fact, that’s exactly what Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, believes. On his X account, he tweeted that XRP will be the “key” to gold-backed stablecoin, providing a catalyst for the tokenization of the world’s gold reserves. He also suggested that this stems from an increasing demand by global financial institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and World Gold Council.
There are plenty of banks around the world that have already adopted Ripple’s XRP technology, including Santander, American Express, Standard Chartered, and National Australia Bank. The success of Ripple as a trading platform for these institutions has led to many more US banks considering its adoption, and we could well see the majority of them using XRP by the end of 2024.
Is XRP truly the key to gold-backed stablecoin?
Sean McBride, a former director at Ripple, indicated that it’s a little more complicated than that. He wrote on his X page that XRP is “likely [to be] classified as something entirely different… like a payments stablecoin”. Instead of a conventional stablecoin, McBride argued that XRP could facilitate low-cost international payments. He added that for XRP to function as a stablecoin with large-scale multinational B2B transactions, it cannot be “dirt cheap”.
Certainly, though, the future looks bright for Ripple and its XRP. As more institutions begin to adopt this technology, top financial executives will undoubtedly be looking into ways to create a standardized online trading currency. The demand or Ripple’s XRP cannot be underestimated, and a revolutionary step to tokenized gold reserves could occur sooner than we think.
