The payment network announced new partnerships with two major banks: Brazil's Itau Unibanco and India's IndusInd, as well as three money transfer service providers — Beetech in Brazil, InstaReM in Singapore and Zip Remit in Canada.
The financial entities have reportedly joined RippleNet in order to facilitate faster and cheaper international funds transfers. Emerging markets are expected to benefit the most from the expansion of companies such as Ripple.
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"The payments problem is a global problem, but its negative impact disproportionally affects emerging markets," said Patrick Griffin, head of business development at Ripple, according to Business Wire.
"Whether it's a teacher in the US sending money home to his family in Brazil or a small business owner in India trying to move money to open up a second store in another country, it's imperative that we connect the world's financial institutions into a payments system that works for their customers, not against them," he said.
Chinese payment processor LianLian International is also joining RippleNet to provide faster payments to Chinese customers.
Ripple's flagship product xCurrent uses RippleNet, the Ripple blockchain, but does not use XRP, which is why the Chinese company's expansion normally doesn't influence XRP rate.
However, investors' confidence in Ripple is growing and that means the cryptocurrency is currently underrated. Experts with the top-rated investment newsletter Profit Confidential expect the coin's rate to reach $10 in 2018.
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But according to Newsbtc, right now the coin's value may drop below $1 due to pressure on the cryptocurrency market because of the latest news from Bangladesh, where cryptocurrencies are illegal. A Bangladeshi cyber police officer has declared that they are on the lookout for crypto users. Those caught could face prison terms of years.
Five new financial institutions have joined RippleNet and will use xCurrent or xVia to strengthen emerging markets access into India, Brazil and China. https://t.co/pjTAbXWbUR
— Ripple (@Ripple) 21 февраля 2018 г.
According to the analysts, the price may find support near $0.9500, but overall it remains at a risk of more declines.
