Ripple Is Under Threat After Visa’s New Blockchain-Based Platform

Ripple is under threat after the payment processor giant Visa launched a blockchain-based solution for cross-border payments for financial institutions. Ripple feels that in the increasingly crowded marketplace, it could easily be overthrown by Visa and we read in the latest cryptocurrency news why.

Visa announced the launch of the business-to-business platform just a day ago, aiming to enhance the efficiency of cross-border transactions for financial institutions around the world. Traditionally, the smaller financial institutions have had to rely on larger banks and their intermediate services causing high fees and delays for days.

The B2B Connect blockchain platform is built on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain software from Linux and IBM. The company developed a blockchain-based platform in order to increase and improve transparency and traceability however the platform is not decentralized. The blockchain platform facilitates direct bank connections with upfront shown payment fees.  It now has about 30 payment corridors but aims to increase up to 90 by the end of this year. Visa explained that the B2B Connect transactions will settle quicker in a few days.

One or two days might be quicker than the SWIFT system but this has already been superseded by the Global Payments Initiative (GPI) in 2017. This system can process the majority of payments in less than 24 hours. The SWIFT is also looking to improve with blockchain technology announcing a potential partnership with Ripple’s competitor R3 back in January this year.

Of course, the crypto community and Ripple supporters believe that Ripple is under threat because of these major institutions but despite it all, it should feel proud and pleased with itself. As explained previously in the altcoin news, Ripple has likely little to fear from these huge names in the industry in terms of speed. The SWIFT system also showed an unbelievable 6% failure rate which was one of the strategies that kept Ripple going.

Visa’s popular brand could, of course, be a deciding and key factor in this game. However, based on previous experience, Visa may make the process much more efficient if it manages to stay satisfied with its current success and doesn’t become too greedy and blow it up very soon.