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American Express recently announced that it will begin their entry into the Chinese market, which has been predicted as the largest card payment market by the end of next year. This move was implemented as a joint venture with LianLian Group and is the first company not to process payments through the state-controlled UnionPay network.
Reportedly, the approval allows the company to process and settle payments in CNY nationwide by creating its own network in collaboration with its partner. The company is called Express [Hangzhou] Technology Services Co., and is requested by the Chinese government to complete preparations for operations within a year.
In particular, both American Express and LianLian Group have partnered with Ripple and have confirmed that they are members of RippleNet. AmEx joined RippleNet with a vision to help small and medium-sized businesses transfer money at the end of last year. LianLianPay, on the other hand, joined the network in February of this year and has over 150 million registered customers.
List of works removed | Source: Google GlassDoor cache
While this does not just mark Ripple's entry into one of their markets with the highest priority for cross-border payments, it is also important to note that the company is planning to move into the Chinese market, as seen by messages on their official work. Job offers have been removed but are still on the Glassdoor work portal.
China has a strict policy against cryptocurrencies, thus excluding the use of XRapid XRP in the country at any time. However, the government seems all for the use of blockchain and DLT, which is what Ripple uses in its xCurrent and xVia products. However, the kicker for XRP HODLers is contained in the implications of this joint venture, which provides the much-needed fiat liquidity in the Chinese market.
Moreover, as pointed out by the crypto-influencer Dr. T on Twitter, both members also need independent cross-border payments, potentially opening up the possibility of a more complete use of RippleNet's capabilities. What exactly the network can achieve can be seen from the included feature known as multi-hop. As explained by Craig DeWitt, Ripple Director of Product:
"Multi-hop gives Ripple members the ability to make transactions with banks or payment providers or digital wallets with which they do not have a direct relationship, which is important because in today's world you need a bunch of bilateral relationships clunkily put together in a chain in order to move money.Multi-hop makes that thing of the past. "
Asheesh Birla, Ripple's Senior VP of Product, also explained how multiple customers have joined xCurrent to increase the reach of the network as a whole. He has declared:
"XVia allows you to use a standard connection to get all the benefits of RippleNet and our products without xRapid using xCurrent and where xRapid is available, they can then add xRapid and move money on demand using XRP and instant payment. is available, whether it is a bank [or] a cash payment provider. "
This generally translates into an uptrend for the blockchain and the DLT space in general, since the move in one of Ripple's most vaunted markets has come to a close.
