Tuesday 01 February 2022 6:00 am | Updated: Tuesday 01 February 2022 2:33 pm

Exclusive: Ripple cosies up to UK regulators amid global payments push

Ripple, the firm behind XRP, the world’s eighth largest crypto asset, said it aims to befriend UK regulators as it develops its cross-border payment capabilities.

Digital payments company Ripple has today exclusively revealed to City PM that it plans to partner with London-based Modulr, one of the few non-banks which has access to Bank of England settlement services. Together the companies plan to offer customers technology which will enable fast, cheap cross-border fiat transactions into Europe from the Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and Middle East regions.

“We are looking to solve a very specific problem in the market,” Sendi Young, the managing director for RippleNet Europe told City PM. “In our approach we want to work with the system including ecosystem partners, governments and regulators,” added Young, who joined Ripple from payments giant Mastercard last year.

The focus on European markets comes as Ripple, which was last week valued at $15bn, remains embroiled in a lawsuit with the US financial regulator for issuing digital currency XRP. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is attempting to sue Ripple and two executives in December 2020 for $1.3bn, alleging that XRP was unlawfully sold as an unregistered security.

While Ripple is fighting tooth and nail to prove that it was not given fair notice that XRP would be classed differently to crypto currencies Bitcoin and Ether the suit has raised concerns about the future of XRP, a key revenue stream for the company. XRP shed 50 per cent from its value after the lawsuit with the SEC emerged, tumbling from monthly highs of $0.66 to lows of $0.22. XRP is now trading at $0.60.

Now the business is diversifying, developing the capabilities of its cross-border payments technology RippleNet and launching a charm offensive targeting regulators in overseas markets.

“I would like to say we were friends,” said Sendi Young in reference to the Bank of England. “Here [in the UK], and many places around the world, we are working very, very closely with central banks and government regulators.”

This year RippleNet has secured partnerships with the Central Banks of Bhutan and Palau to help them develop digital currencies (CBDCs). Ripple is also making inroads in the UK. It is part of the digital pound foundation, an industry body supporting the development of a British CBDC.

“We have regular meetings around a variety of topics,” Young revealed, insisting the company is in a “very good position” with regulators worldwide.

Despite ongoing uncertainty over the SEC lawsuit Young said the start up has enjoyed “its best year ever” with transactions on RippleNet doubling in 2021 and a payments volume run rate in excess of $10bn.