Start-up Ripple has over 100 clients as mainstream finance warms to blockchain
Big-name clients include Santander, UniCredit, UBS and Standard Chartered
Ripple has signed up several new financial institutions to its blockchain network, bringing its clientele to more than 100.
The financial technology start-up is the owner of XRP, the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency behind rivals bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.
Its distributed ledger network, RippleNet, has been joined by the likes of United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based lender RAKBANK and U.K.-based currency exchange firm IFX. It has also cleared a payments path into South America by signing up online payment provider dLocal.
Blockchains are huge encrypted groupings of data dispersed across the globe that record information on digital currency transactions. People are able to exchange digital assets across these distributed ledgers without friction as they are not governed by intermediaries such as governments and central banks.
Ripple hopes its latest round of financial customers will allow it to undermine the dominance of banks and corporations over financial transactions.
“The global payments industry really has been ruled by an oligopoly, led by players like JPMorgan and Citi ,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC during a phone call Monday.
He referred to criticisms levelled at cryptocurrencies like bitcoin by business leaders such as Jamie Dimon and Ray Dalio .
