- Cryptocurrency could partner with Western Union
- XRP has soared over 37,000% in value
The cryptocurrency XRP, devised by digital international money transfers firm Ripple, has seen a 20% surge in its price in the wake of unconfirmed rumours that cross-border payments giant Western Union is contemplating using its blockchain technology as the basis for its money transfers.
A Ripple spokesperson declined to comment upon being approached by Business Insider on Friday, stating that the firm “can’t comment on rumour or speculation”. Western Union similarly declined to comment although it did acknowledge the news source’s inquiry.
Western Union has worked with Ripple in the past — in 2015, they collaborated to develop a programme for distributed payment protocols.
Speculation was fanned by a tweet on Ripple’s official Twitter account on Friday which stated that it had signed three of the world’s biggest money transfers companies. It read:
“3 of the 5 global money transfer companies plan to use XRP in payment flows in 2018. Even more in the pipeline.”
The comment seems to be a response to claims made by New York Times journalist Nathaniel Popper that he was unable to verify many of Ripple’s customers.
The digital assets platform, which developed and maintains the blockchain for the XRP cryptocurrency, has been the focus of attention since December when it became clear that the digital coin had soared in value by over 37,000%. It has now become the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and has a market cap of USD $120bn (AUD $152.62bn).
Should the rumoured partnership with Western Union prove true, it would be a gigantic benefit to the emerging cryptocurrency.
Such colossal gains have made its co-founder, Chris Larsen, the focus of intense interest (and scrutiny). He co-founded what was then called Ripple Labs in 2012 (the suffix was subsequently dropped by the firm) and personally owns 5.1 billion XRP tokens. At the values that the currency reached on Friday, that makes him worth more than USD $14bn (AUD $17.81bn). Provided, that is, he can find a way to sell.
