Ripple has partnered with Earthport, the largest open network for global bank Payments , enabling the network to use its protocol for transfers.
Earthport, regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Service Regulations 2009, services financial institutions in 60 countries. It is traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange.
The partnership will give Earthport an alternative avenue to make international transfers, one which is expected to reduce costs and delays. Said Chris Larsen, co-founder and CEO of Ripple Labs:
"Traditional cross-border payments are inefficient today because both the technology and compliance frameworks underpinning them were built country by country decades ago. The Earthport and Ripple partnership brings together the leading global payments and technology infrastructures to immediately transform and modernise the global payments industry."
Ripple had previously partnered with a number of banks for supporting interbank transfers, including Fidor Bank in Germany and two single-branch banks in the US.
Ripple's latest move effectively allows its protocol to operate under the blessing of Regulation . In a sense, it is a classic example of players in the crypto industry attaining regulatory approval through the "back door." It is somewhat comparable to a Bitcoin business becoming publicly traded through a reverse takeover of a shell company, or Atlas ATS partnering with the National Stock Exchange in a bid for regulated bitcoin trading.
Ripple's XRP currency is trading 1.26% higher during the past 24 hours, apparently not impacted by the development.
