Ripple’s cross-border payments product xRapid brought on Bittrex to act as the preferred digital asset exchange for its transactions that move through U.S. dollars. In a press release, Ripple said that for xRapid to be successful, there needs to be a healthy ecosystem of digital asset exchange partners around the world that allow payments to move from one currency into XRP, then back into another currency quickly and efficiently.
Ripple announced the partnership with Bittrex, and that Bitso and Coins.ph will be preferred for Mexican pesos and Philippine pesos. According to Ripple, it will work like this: A financial institution (FI) that has an account with Bittrex would initiate a payment in U.S. dollars via xRapid, which instantly converts into XRP on Bittrex. The payment amount in XRP is settled over the XRP Ledger, then Bitso, through its Mexican peso liquidity pool, instantly converts the XRP into fiat, which is then settled into the destination bank account.
“Bittrex is one of the biggest names in digital asset trading in the U.S. The same goes for Bitso in Mexico and Coins.ph in the Philippines. That makes today’s announcement an important development for xRapid,” said Cory Johnson, chief market strategist at Ripple, in the press release. “We’ve seen several successful xRapid pilots already and, as we move the product from beta to production later this year, these exchange partners will allow us to provide financial institutions with the comfort and assurance that their payments will move seamlessly between different currencies.”
Ripple noted in the press release its announcement in May that FIs piloting xRapid saved 40 percent to 70 percent on average, compared to traditional foreign exchange brokers that facilitate cross-border payments. The payments also settled in two minutes or less, compared to two to three days from traditional methods.
