Fintech startup Ripple announced Tuesday that it is launching a new product that will allow financial services firms to offer their customers the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
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The San Francisco-based company said the feature, called Liquidity Hub, will give its corporate clients access to digital assets from a range of sources, including market makers, exchanges and over-the-counter dealing desks.
Customers will be able to offer trading in a selection of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, ethereum classic, bitcoin cash and XRP, Ripple said. The company also hopes to offer other digital assets such as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens,. The feature is currently in preview, but is set to launch in 2022, Ripple said.
Founded in 2012, Ripple is closely associated with the cryptocurrency XRP. The company markets XRP to financial institutions as a kind of “bridge” to speed up international payments with its On-Demand Liquidity product.
With nearly $60 billion worth of tokens in circulation, XRP is the seventh-largest digital currency in the world, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
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Ripple also sells a platform called RippleNet, a financial messaging service used by banks and other financial institutions to send money across borders. Ripple advertises this product as a competitor to SWIFT, the global interbank payments network.
Ripple is in a dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over XRP. The regulator is suing the company and executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen for allegedly raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering.
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The company is moving into a new product category at a time when interest in cryptocurrencies has increased dramatically. Bitcoin and ether hit record highs this week amid a broader rally in the cryptocurrency market.
Crypto is seeing increased adoption among mainstream companies as well, with companies like Mastercard, PayPal , and Goldman Sachs now providing support for digital assets.
Information source: cnbc.com
