1.Increase in remittances in 2018
According to World Bank, the total global remittances is set to grow by 3% in 2018, from $596 billion USD to $616 billion USD. This increase is fueled by the increasing amount of people sending back remittances to developing countries. 4 of the top 5 countries receiving remittances are developing as China ($66 billion USD) the only developed country ranking top 5.
Ripple LABS, the largest holder of XRP, is forming huge partnerships with companies in the field as Western Union and MoneyGram some of the biggest names on the list. The fastening growth of the European Union, Russia and U.S means that the countries to benefit most from the increase in remittance flows are in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and Latin America.
With the recent expansion in partnerships with Santander Bank, one of Europe’s largest banks, Ripple (XRP) aims at a larger market by the end of 2018 in a deal that will see Santander Bank save £20 billion in costs.
Remittances cost will increase across the global field according to the report released by WB. The global remittance cost of sending £200 stands at 7.2% way below the sustainable level goal of 3%. This high cost is a major road block to more remittances being sent, but Ripple has the answer with its xRapid, xVia and xCurrent systems being integrated in banks across the world. The company not only focuses on reducing the cost to send, but the speed in which payments are done.
2.XRP will be integrated in Ripple Technologies in the future
Ripple’s successes are not to be directly substituted as XRP’s gain. First of all, they are different entities with the major common factor being Ripple Lab’s huge reserves of XRP (over 60% of the total XRP supply). To put it simply, banks can adopt the xRapid, xCurrent and xVia protocols without necessarily adopting XRP. However, if banks were to transact cryptocurrencies using the tri-systems, XRP will offer the cheapest deal.
However, given the huge strides the company is taking in the remittance industry it is hard to disregard the impact it will have on XRP. The systems integrated are fully compatible with XRP and it will only take a matter of time before these banks accept XRP as a form of payment, as instantaneous payments take a hold of the market.
It is hard to speculate exactly when this would happen but it is bound to happen, sooner rather than later. Why would the company holding the most XRP tokens build a system if it won’t use XRP in the future?
- FUD is fading, FOMO rising
Ripple (XRP) numbers are getting better after seeing the price fall from an all-time high above $3 to less than $0.5 per XRP in February. The sudden price correction hugely increased the FUD spread on social sites with some selling the ‘XRP is not decentralized’ propaganda all the way till the start of April where XRP regained strength. The coin is trading on a cheap at $0.88 as a bullish momentum looks to be on the way for XRP. Ripple tries to keep the price in control through its large reserves but as more investors get into the field, they will release the outstanding amount erasing fears of indirect centralization. What is a better time to buy than now? FUD is fading and once the FOMO comes along again, most will have missed the train.