BBVA is a leading bank in the Spanish industry, and the biggest financial institution in Mexico. With thousands in fiat currency exchanging hands between 2 continents every day, BBVA is a big player in the money transfer market.
Earlier this year, BBVA began testing Ripple technology to send money cross border. In fact, BBVA handled the first ever remittance transfer from one continent to the other between banks.
BBVA is an important player in this field as they manage large volumes of remittance through their services.
Ripple token gains 500% in a few days
As a company, Ripple has gained a lot of attention recently for its strong partnerships in Asia, its sound testing roadmap, and a reputably back team. Many people have seen XRP as one of the less risky options in trading currencies.
This has led the currency into the number 2 spot according to CoinMarketCap in the last few hours as it continues to fight to hold its gains. As always, people have very differing opinions about the value of the currency, but amidst the opinions are claims to cast uncertainty about the token's true value.
Rumor or Warning
In the last 24 hours, a twitter user by the name of @robelgal shared information on his profile that I am sure has a few people scratching their heads this morning.
As in most cases, the first response to this claim is that it was to bring down the reputation of XRP token. After all, @Robelgal is a cryptocurrency trader and most certainly aware of the influence these sorts of reports can have on a currency (if indeed it has not already in this case).
Legit claims?
@Robelgal, whose LinkedIn profile claims he has previously worked at BBVA seems legitimate for someone who could possibly have insider knowledge.
Interestingly enough, if BBVA was close to having a real working product using Ripple tech, why would they rollout a new app that charges more than $5 fee per transfer? Seems there could be a tiny bit of truth behind the bank wanting to test the tech but choosing to stay mainstream for now.
Much can happen in 6 months with Crypto
Oscar, the alleged man behind the twitter post, has not been working with Ripple since July. This brings to attention 2 issues:
- If Oscar was still working at Ripple, he would have latest info including possible info that the tech was working but he is NOT
- If Oscar was still working at Ripple he could face serious charges for tweeting sensitive information such as the above - he is NOT
Research, and more research
This could be a classic case of FUD or a legitimate claim that some choose to believe. In either case, it is important to do one's own research before investing any of your personal wealth.
What do you think? Does Ripple provide a service that banks will use in 2018 or are you less convinced?