Ripple partner SBI Holdings has revealed its participation in the BIS’s Project Agora cross-border payment unified ledger initiative.
Ripple partner SBI Holdings has officially confirmed its involvement in Project Agora, an initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and seven central banks.
This has sparked interest within the XRP community, leading to speculation about the possible integration of XRP in cross-border payments under a unified ledger system.
SBI Holdings Joins BIS-Led Project Agora
On September 19, SBI Holdings announced its participation in Project Agora through a press release.
As a prominent partner in Ripple’s efforts to promote XRP and the XRP Ledger, SBI’s involvement has brought renewed focus on the digital asset.
Project Agora, a collaboration between the BIS and several central banks, aims to enhance the efficiency of cross-border transactions by utilizing tokenization.
The participating central banks include the Banque de France, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A statement from SBI highlighted the project’s goal: “Through this project, we hope to improve the functionality of the financial system while maintaining the two-tiered structure of central bank money and private bank deposits, and provide new solutions that utilize smart contracts and programmability, thereby providing highly convenient services in cross-border transactions.”
The initiative leverages digital tokens representing assets on a unified ledger using smart contracts.
The Institute of International Finance has brought together 41 private sector institutions, including major players like JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Sygnum Bank, Visa, Mastercard, Citi, and HSBC, to collaborate on this effort.
XRP and XRPL Speculation in Focus
Although Project Agora does not explicitly reference XRP or the XRP Ledger, many in the community believe Ripple’s technology could be well-aligned with the initiative’s objectives.
Ripple has been actively exploring tokenization possibilities on the XRP Ledger, including its partnership with Archax in June to bring tokenized real-world assets (RWA) onto the XRP Ledger.
Additionally, the concept of a unified ledger in Project Agora resonates with Ripple’s Interledger Protocol (ILP), which is designed to connect different banks and blockchains.
This raises the possibility of Ripple’s technology being utilized in the project, even if XRP itself is not directly involved.
The XRP community also notes Ripple’s previous collaborations with the BIS and central banks on central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reiterated the company’s ambition to drive adoption within traditional finance.
Market Response to Ripple’s Developments
The price of XRP saw a 2% increase in the past 24 hours, with the current price trading around $0.58.
The 24-hour trading range has fluctuated between $0.563 and $0.589, while trading volume surged by 25%, reflecting growing interest among traders.
Ripple continues to be a leader in the remittance industry. Should the company capture 50% of the global remittance market—which is forecast to reach $11.53 trillion by 2024 and $16.59 trillion by 2028—XRP’s price could potentially rise to $5.
