A series of official announcements from both money transfer companies hit the front pages today. Ripple (XRP), provider of the leading enterprise blockchain solution for payments, has partnered with MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI), one of the world’s largest money transfer companies, to pilot XRP in their payment flows. As part of this agreement, both companies will also explore MoneyGram’s integration into Ripple’s ecosystem through xVia.
Money transfer companies, like MoneyGram, allow people to safely and efficiently send cross-border payments to friends, families and business partners. The current model for these payments requires money transfer companies to use pre-funded accounts across the globe to source liquidity. Newer blockchain technologies have the potential to revolutionize this process and optimize capital deployment.
“The inefficiencies of global payments don’t just affect banks, they also affect institutions like MoneyGram. Money transfer companies are incredibly important because they help people get money to their friends and loved ones,” said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. “We are excited about this pilot and a long-term strategic partnership with MoneyGram. By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, they can now move money as quickly as information.”
For MoneyGram, the second largest money transfer company in the world, this strategic partnership will allow them to understand how blockchain technology and XRP can improve the efficiency of their global treasury operations and consumer experience.
Alex Holmes, Chief Executive Officer of MoneyGram, said, “Every day blockchain technology is changing the norm and encouraging innovation. Ripple is at the forefront of blockchain technology and we look forward to piloting xRapid. We’re hopeful it will increase efficiency and improve services to MoneyGram’s customers.”
Could that be the gas that will fuel Ripple back into the leading shoes? It could, indeed. But let’s recap what happened with Ripple during the last week.
Besides the whithrawal of the Korean markets out of the average price based on the markets pool of CoinMarketCap, that affected pretty much every single platform listed on their markets, including Ripple, we had a disturbing wave of news regarding Ripple and its solidarity.
Ripple’s price dropped about 20% when Coinbase announced that they’re not keen on adding any new coins at this time. We all remember well that was the main reason Ripple’s price skyrocketed the first time, almost doubling its initial value before the rumors about a Coinbase entrance spread.
People thought the same thing happened to Bitcoin Cash could happen with Ripple if they didn’t catch it before the Coinbase listing, resulting in an enormous burst of its token’s XRP price.
Previously last year, New York-based blockchain startup R3 Holdco LLC has sued rival company Ripple Labs Inc. over a contract to purchase Ripple’s digital currency XRP, according to a lawsuit filed in the Delaware Chancery Court.
In September 2016 the two companies had entered an agreement giving R3, the right to purchase up to 5 billion XRPs at a price of $0.0085 per unit at any point by September 2019, according to the lawsuit.
In June 2017 Ripple’s chief executive Brad Garlinghouse attempted to terminate the options contract through an email to R3’s chief executive David Rutter, according to the lawsuit.