Ripple Labs, the global payments technology giant, says it’s committing around $800 million worth of XRP to grants sponsoring project’s use cases. Ripple made the announcement on Friday, 18th March. The company expects the grants to be distributed over the next two decades to various programs that are developing the open-source XRP ledger (XRPL).
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Projects To Be Sponsored
According to a Tweet from Ripple, the grants will contribute to developing the following projects:
- Accelerator Program: A boot camp that will give projects on the XRPL business and financial support.
- DeFi Program: Investment to support the development of DeFi projects on the XRPL.
- Diversity and Inclusion Fund: Funding for university partners to train a diverse group of future developers. The fund will give support to underrepresented communities in the software development field.
- Sustainability Program: Funds will address various environmental issues facing the world.
- Grants Judging Committee: Funds will allow expanding the panel of judges that review and give feedback on proposed XLPR projects.
Ripple and XRP
First of all, XRP is an independent open-source, decentralized blockchain network that uses the XRP token for transactions and governance.
According to Ripple’s website, Ripple and XRP have a close connection. Thus, the payment giant uses the XRP network to develop payment solutions and holds an estimated 60 billion XRP tokens.
Furthermore, Ripple promotes the XRP token and the development of the XRP Ledger. It also uses XRP to provide banks such as American Express and Santander with low-cost global transaction solutions. Nevertheless, Ripple emphasizes that it does not own XRP. In fact, it simply leverages open-source technology to create global payments solutions.
Ripple, XRP and the SEC Law Suit
Despite Ripple’s instance that it doesn’t own XRP, its close ties to the XRP project have landed the company and its top executives facing an SEC lawsuit in 2022. SEC claimed Ripple had “raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering.”
As a result, the lawsuit had a significant impact on the price of XRP as exchanges delisted the coin to avoid getting caught up in the market’s adverse reaction. The case is still ongoing, although reports have recently emerged suggesting Ripple is on the cusp of victory or at least settlement.
XRP’s Price Action
The coin hit a high of $1.76 in 2021, but the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple resulted in a bearish pattern. Hence, XRP collapsed from $1.76, and by July 2021, it was just holding above $0.50 with no sign of relief.
However, dip buyers moved in towards the end of July, and by September, XRP was back above $1. Unfortunately, XRP couldn’t hold the $1 mark for long, and its price declined rapidly in the final quarter of 2021, and by January 2022, it was down to $0.6.
Now, the grant announcement from Ripple Labs hasn’t had much effect on XRP’s price, which is down just over 1% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
All in all, since January, the crypto market has shown some signs of recovery, and the positive news about the Ripple lawsuit could lead to a rally in XRP’s price.
Use Swapzone To Add XRP To Your Wallet
If you’re feeling optimistic about XRP’s future as a backbone of cross-border payment solutions, you’ll probably want to add some to your portfolio.
Swapzone compares the best exchange rates, transaction speeds, and reviews to find you the best exchange deal. Moreover, you can swap dozens of cryptos using the site’s smooth interface, which provides you with an estimated exchange rate before you commit to the swap.
Let’s say you want to swap some BRC to XRP.Ssimply follow these steps:
- Follow this link to Swapzone’s XRP exchange page.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select USDC under ‘You send’ and XRP under ‘You Get.’
- Press the blue exchange button.
- Fill out the details.
- Finally, press proceed to exchange.
Good work! You’ve added some XRP to your wallet.