By
Mercy Tukiya Mutanya
September 19th, 2023
Blockchain start-up Ripple which already has partnerships with banks and other financial firms, announced investing $25 million in XRP in Blockchain Capital’s Parallel IV LP Fund. The company is going to continue contributing to more start-ups that want to use its cryptocurrency.
On Wednesday, blockchain start-up Ripple announced that it invested $25 million of its digital currency XRP into Blockchain Capital’s Parallel IV, the fund for early-stage investments .
Ripple’s digital currency has seen huge volatility this year, currently the start-up owns about 60 billion of the 100 billion ripple (XRP) tokens ever created.
Released in 2012, Ripple purports to enable “secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks.” It supports tokens representing fiat currency, cryptocurrency, commodity or any other unit of value such as frequent flier miles or mobile minutes. Ripple is based around a shared, public database or ledger, which uses a consensus process that allows for payments, exchanges and remittance in a distributed process.
As for Blockchain Capital, it is a venture capital firm dedicated to blockchain technology, which underpins cryptocurrencies and records transactions across a distributed network. Its Parallel IV is the first fund to accept capital calls in digital assets.
According to a spokesperson from Blockchain Capital this parallel fund was created “to separate other LPs from the risk of any change in valuation associated with accepting Ripple’s investment in XRP”.
Last month, Blockchain Capital announced that it had raised $150 million dollars in its fourth funding round. The proceeds came in the form of $125 million to its IV LP fund, and $25 million worth of cryptocurrency for its Parallel Fund IV.
Patrick Griffin, Ripple’s senior vice president of strategic growth, believes that Blockchain Capital is “the premier fund for any project looking to get off the ground in the blockchain space.” He said: “They have a proven track record for finding and funding the projects that matter.”
The aim of the investment is to fund blockchain startups in addition to exploring new uses cases for its XRP ledger and Interledger Protocol and to bankroll smart entrepreneurs who can find additional uses for Ripple’s blockchain technology.
“We want smart people and smart entrepreneurs, who can solve a problem using XRP,” said Cory Johnson, chief market strategist at Ripple. “There’s money sitting there to be used.” He added: “I don’t know what the best use of XRP is going to be, and I hope it’s something we can’t even think of.”
Bart Stephens, co-founder and managing partner of Blockchain Capital, added: “Whether it’s using XRP, bitcoin or just the underlying technology, our goal is to find the best projects and give them the resources to be successful companies that deliver value to customers for the long term.”
For Ripple, Blockchain Capital’s Parallel IV is the first fund to contribute to, but the company has made a hint that it will continue investing in other venture capital funds in order to support and fuel startups and businesses developing blockchain applications.
“This is the first fund that we’ve contributed to, and it won’t be the last,” said Patrick Griffin. “We plan to be major players in shaping the future generation of blockchain or crypto companies.”
Earlier, the company teamed up with UAE Exchange for cross-border payments and announced partnerships with U.S. money transfer giants MoneyGram and Western Union as well as American Express and Santander.
