Ripple is working with Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card to help African institutions use the $RLUSD stablecoin. This partnership, with three leading fintech and cryptocurrency platforms in Africa, aims to improve access to payments, remittances, and liquidity powered by stablecoins.
The action demonstrates Ripple’s goal of solidifying RLUSD stablecoin as a fundamental utility asset for international trade, especially in areas where demand for digital currencies backed by the US dollar is still rising.
In Africa, stablecoins are becoming more and more regarded as a lifeline for consumers and businesses, providing increased efficiency in international settlements and stability against fluctuations in local currencies.
Ripple Increases the Effectiveness of Cross-Border Payments
The collaboration will improve African institutions’ and payment providers’ access to Ripple’s global liquidity infrastructure by giving them smooth on- and off-ramps for RLUSD.
As part of its expanding cross-border payments solutions, Chipper Cash, a well-known African payments company with operations in more than 20 countries, will incorporate RLUSD. Compared to traditional routes, this integration aims to reduce transaction costs and facilitate remittance flows from diaspora markets.
Similarly, institutional and retail customers will have direct access to RLUSD trading and settlement through Yellow Card, Africa’s biggest pan-continental cryptocurrency exchange by footprint. This expands the use cases for merchant payments and remittances by making Yellow Card one of the first African platforms to incorporate Ripple’s stablecoin into its liquidity pools.
Meanwhile, RLUSD pairings will be added by VALR, the South African exchange governed by the country’s more crypto-friendly rules, to cater to institutional, retail, and professional traders. This helps Ripple improve its reputation in regulated African markets, while also enhancing RLUSD’s liquidity profile on the continent.
Growing Market For Stablecoin In Africa
Because of the continent’s reliance on remittances and the high expense of traditional banking, Africa has become one of the stablecoin areas with the quickest rate of growth. Africans paid around $50 billion in remittance fees in 2023, with rates frequently reaching 12% each transfer, according to industry statistics. By fusing real-time settlement with inexpensive transfers, stablecoins like RLUSD offer a strong substitute.
With its foray into the African stablecoin market, Ripple faces up against established players like Tether and Circle’s USDC, which are both widely used throughout the continent. But Ripple’s institutional relationships and incorporation of RLUSD into its wider range of liquidity and remittance products provide it with a competitive edge.
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