Ripple Endorses 'Preferred' Crypto Exchanges for XRP Payments

Ripple is recommending three cryptocurrency exchanges as the "preferred partners" for transacting on its xRapid payments platform.

AccessTimeIconAug 16, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 8:17 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Distributed ledger startup Ripple has endorsed three cryptocurrency exchanges as its "preferred partners" for transacting with its xRapid payments service, which uses the cryptocurrency XRP.

Announced Thursday, Bittrex, Bitso and Coins.ph will now serve as Ripple's "preferred digital asset exchanges" as part of its efforts to build out the XRP ecosystem.

Cory Johnson, Ripple's chief markets strategist, told CoinDesk that the firm is essentially encouraging all of its clients in the U.S., Mexico and the Philippines to use those three exchanges, respectively, for sending funds using its xRapid service.

"So in the U.S. we're saying the gold standard, our official partner is Bittrex. So any bank can go to Bittrex and have guaranteed liquidity on the spot, trade their dollars for XRP, zip over to Mexico to Bitso, our preferred partner there, and convert [to Mexican pesos]," he said in an interview.

The financial institutions would need to have accounts with the exchanges to convert U.S. dollars, or Mexican or Philippine pesos, according to Johnson.

The three exchanges were chosen due to their XRP holdings, allowing them to provide higher levels of liquidity, he said, adding that "there's a whole bunch of companies around the world that are using XRP and what we're doing is identifying three other [exchanges] that have a lot of XRP liquidity and steering more liquidity their way."

While Ripple has only announced three exchanges so far, Johnson said more names are to follow.

He explained:

"The corridors we're focused on [are] organic ... we want to focus on busy corridors. We want to focus on places where there's a very vibrant XRP marketplace, and we want to focus on places where we can have the most value."

Ripple needs to determine where these places are, he said. As an example, he noted that Taiwan and the Philippines see large volumes of trading compared to other international corridors, meaning Ripple could focus more attention on that corridor.

Ripple image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.