Top 20 Major Banks Will Trade Crypto in 2020, Says Ripple CEO

Ripple CEO stated that the crypto industry will see some consolidation within the companies, meaning that many of them will probably disappear from the map.

As we are coming to the end of this year, we can conclude that it has been interesting, in the way. For some, it was successful, for some, not so good. Be it as it may, if you’ve made bets Ripple – you were probably in the first group.

Ripple, the company that actively uses XRP in its solutions, has definitely positioned itself strongly during the last few months as one of the most important companies for the crypto sector as well as the whole blockchain technologies scene.

In its official blog, Ripple managers claim (and we agree), that it is hard to believe that the first real public engagement with digital assets began only a few short years ago in 2017.

The company reminds us how, during 2017 and into the next, “speculators and media coverage drove wild fluctuations in interest and price – contributing to a series of both spectacular rises and precipitous falls in each.” And they’re right. XRP has itself come under attack for being centralized, as the currency has been entirely pre-mined and is controlled by Ripple. Many other coins, such as Bitcoin, do not have this problem but there are other ways to be considered centralized.

Instead of Jenga, Ripple managers say they see the future of digital assets as more like a “vast set of Legos”.

The company said:

“By carefully piecing them together, it’s possible to reimagine familiar worlds or create entirely new ones.”

The company believes that the next year will show us some new technologies and applications for digital assets and that will lead to change in most of the sectors. However, Ripple managers say they expect three major themes to evolve during the first year of the decade to come. It is also claimed this will lead to a more mainstream acceptance of digital assets.

Cryptocurrencies to Support Customer’s Financial Products

As we already know, XRP is a cryptocurrency meant to ease cross-border payments. Companies such are MoneyGram and goLance, have approved this use case and the company expects that even more entities will join this movement.

Ripple SVP of Product Asheesh Birla thinks digital wallets will become almost unavoidable. He said that “adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology among mobile wallets and super-apps like Gojek, Grab and PayPal will become more mainstream as they look to expand their services to keep up with customer demand and compete with digital banks.”

This adoption, says Birla, will continue its growth and will incorporate some new credit and loan products. First, this will happen in developing markets like Kenya, Nigeria and parts of Latin America where the need is most necessary

Ripple SVP of Customer Success Marcus Treacher agrees with him saying that the international and micropayments will expand in order to enable usage for the new customers. He thinks there is a great opportunity here for the tourism sector.

Institutional Crypto Adoption

For digital assets to be considered long-term, more traditional institutions have to come along. In Ripple, they think that this kind of embracement will come in 2020 with more traditional companies importing cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based solutions.

Ripple’s Head of Global Institutional Markets, Breanne Madigan said:

“The presence of recognized players will increase institutional confidence in the space and pave the way for greater institutional adoption next year.”

With her agrees Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse who anticipates, as we have already reported, that half of the top 20 biggest banks in the world will actively hold and trade cryptocurrencies in 2020. He also believes fiat currencies will go digital in the next year.

Crypto Industry Develops in Order to Keep Pace

Adoption of digital currencies by more traditional institutions will probably influence the industry supporting the technology meaning crypto exchanges.

Asheesh says the bigger costs of dealing with security, compliance and technology could ruin the smaller exchanges. That’s why they will have to consolidate. However, that will enable them to grow from regional to global players and to compete with bigger names.

Breanne predicts “an increased focus on true volumes, subdued retail interest in exchanges and the appearance of more institutional grade exchanges” will combine to start overall consolidations.

Garlinghouse said that it is a simple numbers game.

“The world doesn’t need 2000+ digital assets. While I don’t think there will be one coin to rule them all, it’s clear that if an asset doesn’t have a proven use case beyond speculation, it is not going to survive”, said he.