On January 11, blockchain-based payments getaway Ripple announced a partnership with an American money-transfer company – MoneyGram.
Ripple confirmed that MoneyGram would integrate Ripple’s XRP into its payment system.
According to Ripple, the integration will allow MoneyGram to solve an outdated payments system – a problem with which many financial companies continuously struggle.
But what does the Ripple and MoneyGram partnership mean for Ripple?
Ripple faced a significant drop in price following Coinbase dismissal of the alleged Ripple integration to the exchange.
While it’s clear how MoneyGram will benefit from modernising its payments, let’s look in detail on how is it going to affect Ripple.
Ripple’s Partnerships
The announcement boosted investors’ confidence in Ripple, which has recently announced deals with 3 of the 5 biggest payment processors in the world.
Until now, the market was treating it just as another rumour. The official announcement, however, reassured the market about Ripple’s intentions.
At the same time, the news left a sense of anticipation of what is going to come next.
Ripple has already partnered up with some of the major banks such as Santander. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse commented on the partnership:
“The payments problem doesn’t just affect banks; it also affects companies like MoneyGram, which help people get money to the ones they care about. By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, our clients can move money as quickly as information.”
I’m pleased to be able to share @MoneyGram has partnered with @Ripple to use $XRP in their payment flows.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 11, 2018
What Does It Mean For Ripple’s Price?
Earlier on this year, Ripple experienced an all-time high after an extended period of stagnation. However, the uptrend didn’t last for long – after few days, the price had started to crush.
While investors were left in bewilderment, Ripple has stayed oddly quiet about its crushing price. Now, it’s known it was done due to preparations for the big announcement.
Ripple’s critics were quick with jumping into conclusion and predictions that Ripple is never going to succeed long term.
The truth is, the cryptocurrency community has never been a fun of Ripple due to its contradictory nature.
On one side it’s blockchain-based and has cryptocurrency traits, on the other hand, it’s managed by Ripple Labs which causes a lot of controversies.
For more commercial investors, however, Ripple can be an excellent investment which cannot only turn lucrative in the future but can also be used for international fiat money transfers.
With more announcements coming along the way, Ripple price is likely going to increase steadily.
In 2017 alone, Ripple jumped from $0.20 to over $4, at some point even overtaking Ethereum as the second biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market circulation.
The ample supply of Ripple will always work against the XRP price, but at the same time, it guarantees lower volatility.
The Ripple and MoneyGram partnership seems to be just a little nudge comparing to what might be coming shortly.
Ripple can be purchased on Bitfinex and Binance and stored on Ledger Nano S.
Ripple is a cryptocurrency designed for feeless international money transfers for both cryptocurrency and fiat. Ripple Labs manage Ripple XRP.
MoneyGram is the second biggest money transfer company with headquarters in Texas. The company operates in more than 200 countries.
