Some of the world’s leading experts on finance, technology, and even politics, are flying to San Francisco today to attend a two-day blockchain event hosted by Ripple.
A Swell Lineup Expected
Swell, organized by Ripple Labs, will see attendance on stage from former US president Bill Clinton and veterans from payment and technology sector, including Banco Santander, IMF, Alitheia Capital, InstaReM, Siam Commercial Bank, and eBay. Clinton will give a vital keynote that could shed some light on how politicians are looking at the crypto sector in general. He will be preceded by Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who will likely provide an encouraging take on their company’s growth over the recent years.
Other significant participants include representatives from MUFG Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, WestPac, Standard Chartered, American Express, and SBI. Together, these institutions are also a part of Ripple’s RippleNet Committee, a group that “gathers multiple times per year to ensure the blockchain technology powering instant cross-border payments on RippleNet is complemented by a common framework for operational consistency, faster onboarding and legal clarity for every transaction.”
xRapid Launch Expected
Ripple has confirmed the launch of xRapid, a cross-border remittance solution built on the top of Ripple’s proprietary blockchain, last month. The announcement had caused an abnormal bull run in XRP market, bringing its value up over 100 percent in just a week. The excitement, however, dried off as long position holders began to exit their position on new intraday highs, causing a selloff.
Some of the biggest companies have already nodded to test Ripple xRapid system on their frameworks. These companies include names like MoneyGram, Western Union, Mercury FX, and Cambridge Global Payments. An excerpt from the Ripple website:
“xRapid is for payment providers and other financial institutions who want to minimize liquidity costs while improving their customer experience. Because payments into emerging markets often require pre-funded local currency accounts around the world, liquidity costs are high. xRapid dramatically lowers the capital requirements for liquidity.”
The speculators are expecting Swell to be the catalyst for xRapid. The team has announced that it will launch the system in October, but the actual date of its commencement remains unclear. Should it happen, it would prove to be strong fundamental for XRP, which at the time of writing is trading $0.58.
Image from Ripple