Ripple recently acquired Algrim, an icelandic cryptocurrency trading firm to speed up the ongoing development of Ripple’s ‘On-Demand Liquidity’ (ODL) product.
Furthermore, according to Ripple, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also made a successful attempt at creating a “definitive” classification for digital assets.
Top News
Welcome to the latest bi-weekly roundup of the most discussion-worthy news content related to Ripple’s blockchain network and cryptocurrency XRP, in addition to a brief look at periodical price movements.
September 30th
Ripple Enters Iceland After Acquiring Algrim
Ripple has announced its expansion to Iceland in an attempt to grow its European presence with the acquisition of Icelandic cryptocurrency trading firm Algrim.
The company states that its intention is for the country to become something of a regional “engineering hub” with which it can draw additional talent from the surrounding area.
According to Ripple, the former Algrim new team is to play an “integral role” in the ongoing development of Ripple’s ‘On-Demand Liquidity’ (ODL) product; and provide it with “more than a decade’s worth of experience building trading platforms”.
“[SUCH] TEAM ACQUISITIONS POINT TO RIPPLE’S STRONG MARKET MOMENTUM AND FOCUS ON ATTRACTING AND DEVELOPING THE BEST IN ENGINEERING TALENT.”
Ripple, Official Statement
Algrim isn’t the only strategic acquisition made Ripple recently, having also acquired Logos (see below) – in addition to MoneyGram which occurred in June, earlier this year.
Ripple has described these activities as an “acquisition streak” and looking at CoinMarketCap, this correlated with some market-price positivity.
Quotes
“With built-in expertise in trading and exchanges, the addition of Algrim’s engineering talent to our team will be instrumental in continuing the momentum we’re already experiencing with On-Demand Liquidity…
We’ve been committed to sourcing expert crypto and trading talent in key global markets since day one, and the acquisition of the Algrim engineering team is a successful example of doing just that.”
Christopher Kanaan, SVP of Engineering (Ripple)
“The decision to join the Ripple team was a natural fit — both companies share a vision to enable widespread adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology, which aligns directly with what we’ve been working towards for the past several years…
We are big believers in XRP and the XRP Ledger, and eager to help build the future of payments at Ripple.”
Dadi Armannsson, CEO (Algrim)
September 26th
Ripple Calls UK Financial Conduct Authority “a Role Model for Digital Asset Regulation”
In an article specifically referring to the ‘Guidance on Cryptoassets‘ published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in July 2019, Ripple has described the UK organisation as a “role model for digital asset regulation“.
Ripple claims that the FCA has made a successful attempt at creating a “definitive” classification for digital assets, fulfilling a vital business demand for “clarity on classification”.
Under FCA regulations, XRP is classified as an exchange token, due to its position as an enabler of “cross border transactions”.
“[FCA Guidelines] also play an important role in both protecting consumers while allowing innovation to take hold. The evolution of early Internet regulation is a useful parallel.”
Ripple, Official Statement
The news follows an open letter penned by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and executive chairman / co-founder Chris Larsen, addressed to US congress back in July. In this earlier letter, ‘Team Ripple’ pleaded with lawmakers not to “paint” cryptocurrencies “with a broad brush.
This referred to wide-spread actions taken by organisations such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has issued a blanket classification which dichotmoizes all cryptocurrencies as either ‘utilities’ or ‘securities’. Most of which have fallen into the latter category.
After the SEC issued a $24 million civil penalty to Block.one this month, some have pondered whether the Ripple may be next. The two share criticism from the public over centralization.
“By issuing these classifications, the FCA makes it clear to companies which digital assets fall inside its “regulatory perimeter.”…
the FCA has demonstrated which types of tokens will be regulated as securities and which will not.”
Ripple, Official Statement
September 27th
Ripple Xpring Acquires Logos Network, For DeFi
Logos Network has become the latest in the Ripple “acquisition streak”, which will see the Logos team joining Xpring to help it expand on what it calls a mutual goal of “building the internet of value”.
In the announcement, Xpring claims to have been “incredibly impressed” by the skills and achievements of Logos, including its “thoughts around scalability and consensus”.
“[Logos team will now be] leading an ongoing initiative to explore a decentralized financial (DeFi) system that will leverage XRP at its core, as well as other ideas we are exploring to leverage crypto to transform payments and finance.”
Xpring, Official Statement
Logos is a startup which is developing a ‘turnkey’ payment solution which is focused on both speed and scalability – which Ripple and Xpring hope to incorporate into the development of ‘DeFi’ solutions.
DeFi is a recently coined term which denotes a movement of distinctly decentralized solutions to problems facing traditional centralized finance.
It sees a more advanced, service based approach aimed at general consumer markets compared to the previous generation of technical-enthusiast oriented blockchain creations: such as cryptocurrencies, development infrastructure, and wallets.
Conversely, Ripple is seen by many as a largely centralized entity, making this acquisition appear as a move forward in towards creating less centralized solutions.
“Michael Zochowski, Logos’s founder and CEO will serve as Xpring’s Head of DeFi Products and will continue to lead the team, leveraging the broader resources and relationships that Ripple offers to accelerate execution on DeFi.”
Ethan Beard, Senior Vice President (Xpring)
October 1st
‘Ripplenet’: Ripple Appears To Be Rebranding Xrapid and Xcurrent
Ripple appears to have removed all mentions of Xcurrent and Xrapid from its website, in addition to omitting references in all new press releases and statements. In their stead is the new branding of RippleNet.
This suggests that the company has retired the prior terms – at least in public facing communications. Another term introduced fairly recently has been the Ripple ‘On-Demand Liquidity’ product (ODL), describing how the company offers integratable cross-border payments technologies to corporate clients.
“[RippleNet] speeds up transactions to instant settlement, provides complete transparency and eliminates the need for pre-funded accounts.”
Ripple, Official Website
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