Ripple Labs has announced that its cryptocurrency, XRP, will be adopted by remittance providers SBI Remit and Coins.ph, for sending money from Japan to the Philippines. XRP’s price rose following the news, jumping from 50 cents to above 70 cents in just days. The rise comes during Ripple’s growth in the Asia Pacific, where e-commerce is dominant, populations increasingly mobile, and crypto regulations clearer. Meanwhile, there remains murkiness surrounding the security classification of XRP; the SEC had charged Ripple’s co-founders with aiding and abetting the sale of an illegal security, but questions about what qualifies as a security are still unresolved in the marketplace.
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XRP Adoption in Asia
XRP, the cryptocurrency equivalent to the soap operas suburban women watched in 1996, has been adopted by the largest remittance providers between Japan and the Philippines, SBI Remit and Coins.ph. This news has sent XRP’s price soaring and is expected to mark the start of Ripple’s explosive growth in the Asia Pacific, given e-commerce dominance, increasingly mobile populations, and increased clarity around crypto regulations.
The SEC Case Against Ripple
The SEC’s charge against Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has generated several responses to Judge Torres regarding the lack of clarity about whether digital assets are securities. Ripple’s legal team has defended the statements made by Commissioners Peirce and Roisman as relevant by asserting that the aiding-and-abetting claim requires the SEC to prove that Larsen and Garlinghouse knew that XRP was a security eight years ago.
The National Bank of Egypt and XRP
The National Bank of Egypt and LuLu International Exchange have partnered with Ripple to facilitate cross-border payments using XRP. This collaboration will give Egypt access to cheaper ways of exchanging money and bring forth bullish news showing how quickly crypto is taking over the world.
Flare Network and XRP DeFi
The Flare Network is doing another airdrop of Spark tokens in addition to SGB tokens. If you’ve been holding XRP since December 2020, you’ll be getting Spark and SGB over the course of several airdrops this year. However, the needlessly complex US tax code could complicate things for US recipients of Spark tokens.
Conclusion
Overall, XRP’s adoption in Asia and partnerships with financial institutions indicate its potential for explosive growth despite the SEC case. Its adoption in underdeveloped countries like Egypt using blockchain technology to transform payment transactions, unlocking trapped capital and cryptocurrencies’ increasing clarity around regulations, hints at its potential for worldwide adoption.
