Ripple has been on a quest to change the world of banking; speeding up cross-border payments for millions of people around the globe in the process. In order for consumers to feel the benefits of Ripple’s technology, banks need to partner with its various platforms. This week, Marjan Delatinne – Ripple Global Head of Banking – said that 14 new banks and financial institutions signed up to RippleNet, and there are more in the pipeline. On the face of this announcement, things should be looking up for Ripple and its token – XRP – but the charts tell a different story.
A Possibly Adjusted Number
Last year, Ripple announced that it had more than 200 “partners” on using RippleNet, so one blogger decided to dig deeper into this rather bold claim. Trolly dove right into the heart of the matter and found that a large number of these “partners” were either not reporting any income whatsoever or looked like companies 10-year-olds had knocked up in their bedroom. After this worrisome find, the crypto world is having a hard time believing anything about Ripple’s new alleged partners. If this last debacle was anything to go by, Ripple probably signed 5 or 6 partners of quality in the past month or so.
Looking to Expand in South America
Earlier this week, Ripple announced that it’s opening an office in Brazil. The move comes as Ripple looks to expand its network around the globe and have major banks and financial institutions from every corner of the globe. Back in February, Ripple signed up two firms to help bolster the payment corridor between the Middle East and Asia – a rather popular payment route thanks to a large number of expats living in the Middle East. If Ripple keeps on expanding at this rate, it won’t be long before almost every country has at least one bank using RippleNet.
New Partners Is Bad News for Hodlers
If you’re hodling XRP, news of 14 new partners is going to give you a heart attack. Every time Ripple signs up a new partner, it unlocks XRP tokens from escrow. These XRP tokens are used to power RippleNet and help transfer funds across borders at lightning speed. However, as more XRP enter circulating supply, it dilutes the supply and causes the price to slide. So, while these new partners are great in the long-term, in the short-term they are rather harmful to the price of XRP.
If Ripple did indeed sign up 14 new partners, it could be the single largest announcement from Ripple since it axed its chief marketing officer. It could be some time before XRP is back on top and recording huge gains, but these new partners will help out in the long-term.
