Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently expressed a desire to partner with blockchain payment firm Ripple and integrate its x-Rapid payment solution. Zhao, who is fondly referred to as CZ in the cryptocurrency community disclosed during a periscope live stream that he looked forward to a Ripple partnership and other strategic partnership within the community.
CZ said:
“We’re focused on launching more features right now, so we are working with a number of other partners. With x-Rapid, there’s nothing going on right now, but in the future, we’ll definitely want to add them as a partner.”
At the time of the live stream, Ripple’s XRP token maintained its position as the second highest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization—ahead of Ethereum and second to only bitcoin.
However, financial organizations are hesitant to implement the x-Rapid product due to the volatility associated with cryptocurrency. The outgoing CEO of SWIFT Gottfried Leibbrandt revealed that much during a recent panel session.
SWIFT Ignores Ripple for Blockchain Consortium R3
As reported, Leibbrandt announced that his company, which is one of the biggest international payment settlement providers, was integrating the network developed by enterprise blockchain consortium R3. Leibbrandt, who is still skeptical of blockchain then claimed that Ripple x-rapid is not enjoying patronage due to its use of XRP tokens unlike its sister solution, the x-current, and Ripplenet. “I think that the big part of Ripple’s value proposition is the cryptocurrency XRP…there we do find the banks are hesitant to convert things into a cryptocurrency right now because of the volatility in the currencies,” Leibbrandt noted.
x-Rapid is Being Integrated
Since its launch last year, X-rapid has made some progress convincing financial institutions to adopt its x-Rapid product which provides immediate liquidity by converting to XRP tokens. As Smartereum reported, an executive of Euro Exim Bank confirmed that the bank was integrating the x-Rapid technology in accordance with an agreement reached with Ripple in January.
Graham Bright, the Compliance and Operations Head at the banks disclosed:
“Euro Exim Bank is now working closely with technical resources at Ripple, and have successfully implemented the x-Rapid system for customers requiring low-value remittances in currencies and jurisdictions typically subject to large exchange costs, costly liquidity and delivery time and acceptance issues.”
During his Periscope live stream, CZ talked about a wide range of issues concerning the cryptocurrency community one of which was his advice to focus on building blockchain projects rather than focusing on [the approval or not of] Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.
