Ripple XRP

Report: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Hints at Future Mergers and Acquisitions

05/06/2022 by Idelto Editor

While visiting the World Economic Forum (WEF) event in Davos, Ripple Labs CEO, Brad Garlinghouse discussed the firm’s growth opportunities and despite the crypto economy’s downturn, Garlinghouse spoke about future mergers and acquisitions.

‘I Think We’re More Likely to Be the Buyer,’ Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse Said During an Interview in Davos

Just recently, during the WEF conference in Davos, Ripple Labs executive Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC in an interview that Ripple Labs has “a very strong balance sheet.” Garlinghouse spoke about Ripple Labs possibly participating in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals and Ripple Labs will be the buyer. “We’re now at a stage of growth where I think we’re more likely to be the buyer versus the … seller,” Garlinghouse told the CNBC author Arjun Kharpal. Garlinghouse further noted that he expects to see an increase in M&A in the blockchain industry.

“I think there’ll be an uptick in M&A in the blockchain and crypto space,” Garlinghouse explained during his interview. “We haven’t seen that yet. But I think that’s likely in the future. And I certainly think as that unfolds, we would consider things like that.”

There has been a number of acquisitions in the crypto space during the latter half of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. For instance, Coinbase acquired the firm Fairx Exchange in January 2022, and Opensea acquired Dharma Labs that month as well. In February, the ethereum software company Consensys announced the acquisition of the Mycrypto wallet. The following month in March, the fractional investing company Public announced the acquisition of the digital collectibles and non-fungible token (NFT) technology startup Otis.

In April, the payments and checkout and shopper network, Bolt, acquired Wyre for $1.5 billion. Moreover, at the end of May, Huobi Global revealed it acquired the Latin American crypto exchange Bitex. The Ripple Labs CEO’s statements in Davos also follow the billionaire and FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried talking about spending billions on M&A deals. Garlinghouse explained in Davos that “there’s a lot of room for growth in crypto, and we’re looking at a lot of different niches for it.”

Meanwhile, the crypto asset xrp (XRP) is the sixth-largest market capitalization among more than 13,400 crypto assets in existence today. Year-to-date, however, XRP has lost 59.2% against the U.S. dollar and 34% was lost during the past 30 days. XRP also did not see an all-time high (ATH) seven months ago as many other digital assets did back in November 2021. XRP’s last recorded ATH was over four years ago on January 7, 2018, following the 2017 crypto bull run. XRP is down more than 88% since that ATH and its market valuation represents 1.49% of the entire crypto economy’s $1.28 trillion in value.

What do you think about the statements Garlinghouse made in Davos about future mergers and acquisitions? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Ripple and SBI Collaborate to Launch On-Demand Liquidity in Japan — XRP Surges

29/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

Ripple has launched its first On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service implementation in Japan in partnership with SBI Remit, a large Japanese money transfer provider, and Philippine crypto exchange Coins.ph.

Ripple, SBI, Coins.ph Collaborate to Launch Ripplenet’s On-Demand Liquidity

Ripple Labs announced Wednesday “the launch of Ripplenet’s first live On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service implementation in Japan” in collaboration with SBI Remit Co. Ltd. and Coins.ph.

SBI Holdings, an investor and shareholder of Ripple, independently announced Wednesday that SBI Remit and crypto exchange SBI VC Trade have launched “Japan’s first international remittance service using crypto assets” in partnership with Ripple Labs. SBI Remit, a subsidiary of SBI Fintech Solutions, is one of the largest money transfer companies in Japan. It has been using Ripplenet since 2017.

Coins.ph, a product of Betur Inc., is a crypto exchange and a leading mobile wallet service in the Philippines that is regulated by the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The announcement details:

This expanded partnership will see SBI Remit connect with Coins.ph and digital asset exchange platform SBI VC Trade on Ripplenet for faster and more affordable cross-border payments from Japan to the Philippines.

SBI explained that after a remittance request is initiated with SBI Remit, SBI VC Trade sends XRP in real time to Coins.ph, which converts the cryptocurrency to the Philippine peso to pay the remittance recipient.

The price of XRP jumped more than 16% Wednesday following the news. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.7148 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets.

Ripple explained that “The Filipino diaspora is currently the third largest in Japan,” noting that remittance flows from Japan to the Philippines sent by overseas Filipino workers in 2020 totaled approximately $1.8 billion. In addition, Japan has one of the highest cross-border payment fees in the world. The company detailed:

This is Ripple’s first On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service implementation in Japan, setting the stage to drive more adoption of crypto-enabled services in the region. By leveraging the digital asset XRP to eliminate pre-funding, the two companies can also free up capital and accelerate the expansion of their own payments businesses.

Nobuo Ando, Representative Director of SBI Remit, commented: “The launch of ODL in Japan is just the start, and we look forward to continuing to push into the next frontier of financial innovation, beyond real-time payments in just the Philippines, but to other parts of the region as well.”

Meanwhile, the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple Labs and its executives is still ongoing. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has revealed, however, that the company could go public after the SEC lawsuit is resolved.

What do you think about Ripple launching On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service in Japan? Let us know in the comments section below.

Nomura and Ripple Partner SBI Holdings Support XRP, Reject Token’s Categorization as Security

30/12/2020 by Idelto Editor

As XRP continues to plummet in value due to Ripple’s turmoil with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the token seems to find some support in Japan, as crypto exchanges in the nation have refused to delist it.

Nomura and Key Ripple Partner Keep Supporting XRP, Reject US SEC Claims

Per a report published by Sadakazu Osaki, an analyst from the economic research firm Nomura Research Institute, Ripple’s token is considered in the land of the rising sun as a crypto asset, according to the Funds Settlement Act, as securities are registered with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) for “offering or sale.”

That’s why XRP cannot be categorized under “securities” and in consequence, SEC’s lawsuit against the blockchain firm won’t have an impact on the status of the token in Japan whatsoever, said the researcher.

Osaki also highlighted the popularity that XRP has in Japan, as the token “is widely traded in cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan”:

It can be said that the interpretation that it does not fall under ‘securities’ under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which requires the submission of a document, has been established. This point will not be affected by the proceedings between the SEC and Ripple.

Moreover, SBI Holdings, considered one of the nation’s biggest financial firms, supports Osaki’s views on XRP, stating that exchanges will keep trading the token accordingly with the local laws established by the correspondent watchdogs.

Ripple’s CEO Denies XRP Is a Security

In the lawsuit, the U.S. SEC claimed that Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives allegedly raised over $1.3 billion “through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering.”

Such claims have been denied by Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, who said that SEC’s allegations are “fundamentally wrong as a matter of law and fact.”

Ripple and the U.S. SEC’s legal battle has led to a series of announcements from major cryptocurrency exchanges to delist or halt XRP trading as a temporary measure due to the turmoil that triggered high volatility and led to legal uncertainty in regards to Ripple’s token.

What are your thoughts on the Japanese crypto industry stance in regard to Ripple’s turmoil with the US SEC? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Nomura and Ripple Partner SBI Holdings Support XRP, Reject Token’s Categorization as Security appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Okcoin and Coinbase to Halt XRP Trading Due to the US SEC Lawsuit Against Ripple

29/12/2020 by Idelto Editor

Two major cryptocurrency exchanges joined the XRP trading suspension campaign in the wake of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit filed against Ripple Labs on December 22, 2020.

Two Major Crypto Exchanges to Suspend XRP Trading in January 2021

The last week of 2020 started with the announcement of Okcoin, one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the industry. They’ve decided to halt XRP trading and deposits on the platform effective on January 4, 2021.

According to the firm, users who have borrowed from the XRP/USD margin pair, including borrowing XRP and USD, are required to return the borrowed value before January 3, 2021, 7:00 PM (PST time). On January 4, 2021, spot trading, margin trading, and deposits will be suspended starting 7:00 PM (PST time) “till further notice.”

However, Okcoin pointed out that Ripple’s situation with the U.S. SEC “will take time to reach a resolution,” warning users to keep an eye on the developments about the turmoil.

Coinbase to Fully Suspend XRP Trading on January 19, 2021

On the other hand, U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase also made official its decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on the platform, whose trading will be fully suspended on January 19, 2021, at 10 AM (PST time). Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, commented on the measure:

The trading suspension will not affect customers’ access to XRP wallets which will remain available for deposit and withdraw functionality after the trading suspension. (…) We strive to provide our customers with access to a broad set of assets, all of which are evaluated against our Digital Asset Framework to assess factors like security, compliance, and the project’s alignment with our mission of creating an open financial system for the world. We take seriously any decision to change our customers’ access to one of those assets.

After Okcoin’s decision, Ripple’s token plummeted across the board over 6% below the $0.28 level, but then it managed to trim some losses. However, the sell-off continued to take the XRP reins, making it to dip below the $0.2 psychological area, also fueled by Coinbase’s announcement.

As of press time, according to markets.Bitcoin.com data, XRP is quoting at $0.183 (-36%).

What do you think about Okcoin and Coinbase’s decision on XRP trading’s suspension? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Okcoin and Coinbase to Halt XRP Trading Due to the US SEC Lawsuit Against Ripple appeared first on Bitcoin News.

New Paper: Ripple Network Doesn’t Meet Criteria To Reach Consensus

03/12/2020 by Idelto Editor

A brand-new paper which analyzes the Ripple network concluded that the network does not reach true consensus, as its protocol “may violate safety and liveness,” and doesn’t follow the established models and algorithms for a Byzantine agreement.

Report Claims XRP’s Network Is Vulnerable to Malicious Actors

According to Ignacio Amores-Sesar, Christian Cachin, and Jovana Micic, researchers from the University of Bern, the Ripple consensus protocol introduces the idea of “subjective validators”, such that every node declares “some trusted validators.”

In the case of Bitcoin and Ethereum, both reach consensus permissionlessly through Proof-of-Work (PoW). However, through Byzantine systems, access is permissioned as the system can’t block malicious actors. The paper goes in-depth by explaining the mechanism:

The designers of Ripple aimed at opening up membership in the set of validator nodes compared to BFT [Byzantine-fault-tolerant] consensus. The trusted validators of a node are defined by a Unique Node List (UNL), which plays an important role in the formalization of the protocol.

The research explains that a consensus protocol in a blockchain network must guarantee that “nothing bad ever happens” – malicious participants cannot double-spend a token –, calling it “safety,” and the network should “continue to process transactions” in parallel, known as “liveness.”

As there are no proper conditions in terms of network-wide validation in XRP’s network of what’s being communicated through it, the paper explains why it’s vulnerable to simple attacks by threat actors.

The consensus protocol of the Ripple network is brittle and fails to ensure consensus as commonly understood in computer science and among blockchain practitioners.

However, the University of Bern’s researchers clarified that their explanations given on the paper with samples of attacks on the Ripple network are “purely theoretical” because, as of press time, a live attack has not been seen yet on XRP.

If Ripple had adopted one of the standard Byzantine-fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols, “then the network would not be exposed to such dangers,” the researchers said.

Do you agree with the paper’s findings on the Ripple network? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post New Paper: Ripple Network Doesn’t Meet Criteria To Reach Consensus appeared first on Bitcoin News.