New expansion crypto projects for Ripple and XRP

After its partial success in its lawsuit against the SEC, Ripple is restarting with new crypto expansion projects that also involve its XRP cryptocurrency. 

It is worth mentioning that Ripple is the company that created the cryptocurrency and its blockchain, while XRP is the cryptocurrency, and XRP Ledger is the blockchain. 

The ruling from a few days ago found the Ripple company guilty of selling its cryptocurrency as an unregistered security, but also held that exchanges of XRP on crypto exchanges should not be considered sales of investment contracts. 

The expansion of crypto company Ripple (XRP) into the UK and Ireland

One of Ripple’s expansion projects involves the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

In fact, the company has applied for a license to the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to operate in the UK as a recognized cryptocurrency company. It is trying to do the same thing in Ireland as well. 

This was stated by the CEO of Ripple’s subsidiary operating in the UK and Europe, Sendi Young, in a recent interview. 

Young comes from traditional finance, having previously worked first at HSBC, then at AlixPartners, and then also as a global fintech leader at Mastercard.

During the interview, he revealed that Ripple in the UK and Europe has increased its headcount by about 75% in the past two years under his leadership.

Their goal in particular is to facilitate cheap and fast cross-border payments using XRP and the RippleNet network. 

According to Young, the UK is delivering on its promises, and is actually trying to become a crypto hub in Europe. And Ripple is trying to take advantage of this momentous shift. 

For instance, in May it bought the Swiss crypto custody company Metaco by investing as much as $250 million. 

Metaco‘s clients include large banks such as Citigroup, BNP Paribas, Singapore’s DBS, the Spanish bank BBVA, Forge, the crypto subsidiary of Societe Generale, and others. 

Ducati’s NFTs

Another European initiative, but one with global reach, is Ducati’s launch of NFTs on XRP Ledger XRPL.

Ducati is a well-known Italian company that produces sports motorcycles and is known all over the world. 

Recently the company announced the launch of its first digital collectible issued on XRP Ledger, in collaboration with NFT PRO™. 

This is a kind of NFT from the motorcycle manufacturer, and consists of a video sequence of Ducati logos on the tanks of motorcycles produced since 1946.

Users who want to purchase these NFTs must register within seven days of the launch date of the initiative, which is today. In fact, those who receive the first collectible will also have access to later versions of the project. 

Ducati’s upcoming Web3 projects will be implemented using XRPL itself. 

For Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali, joining Web3 is a way to get closer to the Ducati community, expanding the number of services offered to them. In addition, it is also a way to become known to a new community of NFT enthusiasts. 

The future of XRP

In theory, in the future XRP could compete with Ethereum, or at least try to. 

However, it may not be easy at all. For one thing, Ethereum has now captured such a large market share within the crypto sector that it will be difficult for anyone to take even a little bit of it away from it. 

Moreover, XRP’s success is largely due to Ripple, which is a centralized company, while Ethereum is actually a decentralized project. 

So it seems rather difficult for XRP to really compete with Ethereum, although it remains theoretically possible. 

On the other hand, it is another matter for the RippleNet network with regard to cross-border transactions, especially in the area of traditional financial services. 

However, it must be said that in this case there is a risk that XRP will play a minority role, that is, it will be used primarily as a utility token to pay the fees of transactions recorded on XRP Ledger. After all, if the judge decided that it is not a security, it is precisely because it is “only” a utility token. 

Add to that the fact that the Ripple company was found guilty, and the future still looks uncertain. However, it is worth mentioning that the SEC could appeal to try to get a different ruling, so things could still change.