By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 18th, 2024
The report also notes that global financial organizations are preparing themselves to “incorporate digital assets into payment flows.”
At Ripple’s two-day Swell Conference 2018, industry leaders from around the world gathered to discuss a plethora of issues in the crypto and blockchain space. The opening keynote address was given by former U.S. president Bill Clinton who talked about the potential of the blockchain technology. Clinton also warned lawmakers that access regulatory involvement can also harm innovation and growth.
Additionally, Ripple also commercially launched the xRapid payments solution to facilitate instant and low-cost cross-border payments using the XRP tokens. On the second day of Swell 2018, Ripple unveiled its first Blockchain in Payments Report. The key highlight of this report is that the blockchain-based global payments are on the verge of mass adoption this year.
Blockchain and the Mainstream Adoption
The report also notes that global financial organizations are preparing themselves to “incorporate digital assets into payment flows.” Ripple’s Chief Market Strategist Cory Johnson said that “there’s a lot of money at stake”. Johnson appeared at a discussion called “Survey Says” which analyzed “proprietary research into payments trends and the adoption of blockchain and digital assets within financial services.” In the discussion, Johnson noted:
“What we’re really seeing is we are right on the cusp of massive adoption based on our survey results. We talk to people who are making decisions about what they’re going to do, who are really actively looking at this technology. And this mass adoption, the tipping point for this mass adoption – we’re right on the cusp of that right now.”
Johnson further highlighted the changing dynamics of the financial market saying:
“The world is used to getting things, right now, on-demand. They aren’t waiting for anything.” He continued, “When we look at blockchain and the solutions it offers in cross-border payments, we have an opportunity to address their needs.”
Alenka Grealish, co-presenter and senior analyst for corporate banking at Celent, said that 700 payments professional across different industries spread in 22 countries are currently gauging the impact of blockchain adoption. Grealish said that the respondents are motivated to change the way money moves and that we are approaching a tipping point. She said:
“When you envision the scale with the status quo on one side and the forces of change on the other, we see that the status quo weighs heavy, but the forces of change are starting to dominate — to tip the scale in the direction of change.”
Key Highlights of the Ripple Report
Some of the key highlight’s of the Ripple’s blockchain report include:
- 75% of respondents are extremely positive and motivated to use digital assets as a base currency or for transaction settlement.
- 18% of industry respondents are nearing the production of their blockchain-based payments use case.
- 45% of respondents said that they are already in production, piloting or close to signing with a blockchain provider.
- 85 percent of those using blockchain in production and 90 percent of those quickly moving to production are either extremely or very interested in using digital assets as a form of payment.