Facebook’s Libra coin has certainly made a splash with its release of a white paper last week. The currency, which will look to provide a payment and currency transaction to connect its over 2 billion users around the world, could be game-changing. Not just for the community at large but for the current cryptos it may be forcing out of business.
One of these companies who should be wary of Libra’s arrival is Ripple. whose main focus is cross border payments. Libra may be stepping on Ripple’s toes but the company’s CEO has looked to portray its arrival as something he welcomes and makes him happy.
In an interview at Fortune’s Brainstorm event, Brad Garlinghouse insisted that the Libra white paper has already proven fruitful for his company’s xCurrent banking payment software and associated XRP cryptocurrency, as banks are now more interested than ever.
“[It] has absolutely catalyzed contract activity… this has been a call to action,” he said. So adamant was Garlinghouse, that he even said:
“I will send a case of champagne to David Marcus the guy who runs Libra.”
As banks look to make advancements in their cross border payment services, going from the SWIFT option they currently use to a more up to date and modern variety, this could pave the way for Ripple.
The recent Moneygram partnership could be the start of this path of acceptance from big financial institutions. Ripple has just bought an 8%-to-10% stake in the money transfer firm. The deal was another pivotal moment although it has been overshadowed by the Facebook Libra release.
The news prompted a big jump in the stocks for Moneygram, going up a whopping 168%, however, the price did little to change the price of Ripple’s native token, XRP. Garlinghouse felt this was, “bullshit”, summing it up like this:
“I think it’s really hard for people in these economies to say what is real and what is noise.” He said “it was a big deal for Ripple,” and overtime, people will believe it was “bigger deal for the cryptocurrency markets overall.”
Time will only tell if Facebook’s Libra has an impact on Ripple, but from what it is clear from Garlinghouse, is that perhaps it could be the making of them and most importantly, they won’t go down without a fight.
