Author: Yangz, Techub News
Since December 21, 2020, the struggle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lasted for nearly 4 years. During this period, although XRP once rose to 1.9 USDT in the 2021 bull market, it has hovered around 0.5 USDT in the subsequent prolonged bear market. Although there have been occasional rebounds due to "litigation benefits", XRP has actually long been an undesirable target for investors.
However, what many people did not expect is that after Trump announced his victory as the next US president in November, XRP began to surge significantly, reaching 2.9 USDT on Monday (at the time of writing, it has fallen back to 2.55 USDT), setting a new historical high. Its market value has also surpassed Solana, returning to the third place.
There are countless reasons for the rise, in addition to "regulatory benefits" and the so-called "altcoin season", we want to let you know what Ripple has been doing in recent years.
Persistence and Expansion in Business
In addition to being busy fighting the US SEC, what Ripple has been doing in recent years, or what it has been insisting on since its launch, is the construction of cross-border payments.
Before receiving the lawsuit from the US SEC, Ripple had already achieved outstanding results in this field. In 2014, Ripple welcomed its first major bank partner, Fidor Bank in Germany. Subsequently, Santander Bank and American Express also reached cooperation with it. In addition to banks, Ripple has also been a major player in the global remittance market. In 2018, Ripple partnered with MoneyGram, a leading player in the remittance industry, and began to use XRP in its payment process. In 2019, the two deepened their cooperation and signed a 2-year agreement, and Ripple agreed to invest $50 million in MoneyGram. Ripple's announcement shows that by 2019, Ripple has cooperated with more than 300 financial institutions in more than 40 countries, with the total value of cross-border payments processed reaching billions of dollars.
Perhaps because the results were too "dazzling", in December 2020, Ripple received a lawsuit from the US SEC and launched this protracted dispute. However, even so, Ripple has not stopped its construction.
In 2021, Ripple announced the acquisition of a 40% stake in the Asian cross-border payment company Tranglo. In July of the same year, Ripple announced a partnership with SBI Remit, Japan's largest remittance provider, and the Philippine mobile wallet service Coins.ph, to launch Ripple's first real-time on-demand liquidity (ODL) service in Japan. In November, Ripple also partnered with the Republic of Palau to develop a cross-border payment and US dollar-backed digital currency strategy for the country. By 2022, Ripple has partnered with Travelex, the first bank in Brazil registered with the Central Bank of Brazil and approved to engage in foreign exchange business. In November of the same year, Ripple also announced its foray into the African market, partnering with the local digital payment gateway MFS Africa. Recently, Ripple has also partnered with the Brazilian cryptocurrency trading platform Mercado Bitcoin, aiming to bring faster, cheaper and more efficient cross-border payments to local users. According to Ripple's official website, it currently supports over 80 markets worldwide, with a total value of cross-border payments processed reaching $50 billion.
In fact, in addition to cross-border payments, Ripple is also actively deploying other businesses, mainly including cryptocurrency custody, stablecoins, CBDCs and RWAs.
In 2023, Ripple announced the acquisition of Swiss digital asset custody and tokenization technology provider Metaco, officially entering the cryptocurrency custody market, and in December established a partnership with digital asset custodian Zodia Custody. This year, Ripple also completed the acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Company, further promoting the development of its custody business.
In terms of stablecoins, Ripple announced last year that it would further cooperate with the Republic of Palau to launch a Palau-backed stablecoin on the XRP Ledger supported by the US dollar. This year, Ripple has also announced the launch of its native US dollar stablecoin RLUSD, a departure from its previous strategy of relying solely on XRP. Ripple said in the announcement that RLUSD is intended to bring more utility and liquidity to the XRP Ledger, and will initially be launched on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, with plans to expand to other blockchains over time. According to a Fox News report, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has approved Ripple to issue this stablecoin on December 4 (as of the time of writing, no related news has been announced). And according to XRPScan data, the RLUSD Treasury has been conducting minting tests.
In terms of CBDCs, Ripple launched the Ripple CBDC platform in 2023, aiming to provide services for the issuance of CBDCs to central banks, governments and financial institutions. Subsequently, Ripple has partnered with the Central Bank of the Republic of Colombia and the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
In terms of RWAs, Ripple was selected for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's first digital Hong Kong dollar pilot program last year, and plans to cooperate with Fubon Bank to research the use case of real estate asset tokenization. Recently, Ripple has also partnered with the RWA exchange Archax and the British asset management company ABRDN PLC to launch the first tokenized money market fund on the XRP Ledger.
Compliance Efforts and Industry Contributions
In addition to its progress in business, Ripple has also been making efforts towards "compliance" in recent years. In June 2023, Ripple announced that it has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its application for a "Major Payment Institution License", and obtained the MPI license from the authority in October of the same year. In November of the same year, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) approved the inclusion of XRP in its virtual asset system, allowing the use of this digital asset within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). In December, Ripple's Irish subsidiary Ripple Markets registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Central Bank of Ireland. And in October this year, Ripple also announced a major milestone, receiving in-principle approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, taking a solid step forward in its compliance progress.
In addition, Ripple has always hoped to "speak up" for the cryptocurrency industry. In May this year, Ripple donated $25 million to the Fairshake cryptocurrency political action committee (PAC), adding to the $25 million donated last year, for a total of $50 million. Last week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the company will continue to donate $25 million to Fairshake to help elect "candidates who support cryptocurrency, support growth and support innovation" in the future US elections. According to a Reuters report, Ripple and other cryptocurrency companies are currently competing for the cryptocurrency advisor committee positions promised by Trump, seeking to have a voice in the reform of US cryptocurrency policy.
In addition, Ripple has also been quietly working in other areas. In May this year, Coinbase, together with multiple companies, launched a technology anti-fraud alliance to combat online fraud and financial scams, in which Ripple was involved. In October, Ripple partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), committing a multi-year investment of $1 million to support the IRC.
Summary
When will the 4-year struggle end? Currently, the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a final ultimatum to the US SEC, ordering it to submit its final brief by January 15, 2025. However, given the various changes over the past four years, the final outcome of the Ripple vs. SEC case is still unknown. But considering the various positive policies, including the expected XRP ETF and Gensler's departure, perhaps Ripple can truly "bloom like an old tree and perform a miracle"?
