Ripple To Launch xRapid In A Few Weeks
Ripple may soon launch xRapid – a commercial version of its payment platform according to CNBC. Sagar Sarbhai, head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple, said on Monday that the firm was making significant headway with its xRapid product, which is aimed at helping banks speed up transactions by using the cryptocurrency XRP.
Sarbhai also said in an interview with CNBC: “I am very confident that in the next one month or so you will see some good news coming in where we launch the product live in production.” He went on to add that more than 120 banks and financial institutions, including Santander and American Express, are currently partnered with Ripple, using its blockchain-based product xCurrent to settle international transactions. Mr. Sagar noted that regulators and policymakers are changing the narrative of ‘blockchain good, crypto bad’ and are beginning to see the benefits that digital assets and cryptocurrencies bring in.
Just recently, during the test-run of the xRapid platform which tested payments between the U.S. and Mexico, participants reported an improvement in transaction speed — from the average 2–3 days to just over two minutes. Earlier this year, Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said the start-up would have “dozens” of banks using xRapid by the end of 2019.
Electronic Money To Replace Cash In Dubai
The Dubai Police, amidst investigating an $81.7 million international fraud case has issued a warning about the potential role of digital assets in boosting crime in the UAE. During a forum held a few days ago, the Dubai Police officials stated that unmonitored large-scale electronic financial transactions have helped cybercrime within the country, and that the UAE government needs to develop a legal and law enforcement framework to deal with tackling these issues.
During the event, Dr. Saeed Al Dhaheri – Dubai SmartWorld chairman said that rather than wait, the government should take the initiative and create a regulatory system to monitor electronic currency and stop it from becoming an enabler for crime. According to him, “For every one successful digital transaction, there are five failed currencies.”, and that the high level of crypto startup failure within four months of establishment – which is about 56%, is proof that a large portion of such businesses are “fake”. Experts suggested the launch of a state-backed UAE cryptocurrency, as well as amendments to existing AML and CFT laws to include that they also apply to the use of digital currencies.
Is Taiwan The Next Major Blockchain Market?
Taiwan, the seventh largest economy in Asia has embraced the benefits of blockchain technology in the economic growth of the country by pursuing friendly regulation for crypto and blockchain companies. Earlier this year, the ‘Blockchain Island’ Malta gained crypto regulations which caused Binance and Bittrex, two of the biggest multi-billion dollar digital asset exchanges in the world relocating to Malta. Following in Malta’s footsteps, major cities in South Korea, Japan, and Europe are adopting similar regulatory frameworks to lure in cryptocurrency companies.
So far, there has been no official legislation covering cryptocurrency and blockchain from the Taiwan government. But, led by Congressman Jason Hsu, government officials and major cryptocurrency companies created Taiwan Crypto Blockchain Self-Regulatory Organization (TCBSRO) to set quality industry standards and practices. Taiwan hopes to join Japan and South Korea, in seeing exponential growth in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries, primarily due to the implementation of friendly regulatory frameworks.
Altcoins Market: ETH Tries To Hold Above $200
Ethereum (ETH) opened on Monday the 10th at $197.85, followed by a 13% decline to a low of $170.26 on Wednesday. Again, Ether picked back up on a bullish run for the rest of the week to a resistance of $222.79 before slightly breaking that resistance and closing the week at $223.07.
XRP opened on Monday at 28 cents, fluctuated all through Monday to Wednesday between 26 and 27 cents. XRP hit a weekly low at 25 cents and steadily shot back up the rest of the week before closing at 28 cents. Not bad for XRP, closing at the same opening price.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) started the week off quite high at $484.22, saw a decline and struggled all Tuesday to get back up to Monday’s value. Sank to a low of $415.45 on Wednesday but managed to recover immensely to $472.75 on Friday. The week closed after a stable weekend at $450.68
EOS opened badly on Monday at $4.99, danced around that price till Wednesday, started riding the upward trend to the $5.5 mark on Thursday. On Friday, EOS corrected to $5.20 support line but went back up to the resistance of $5.47 and closed the week at $5.40.
