XRP Coming to the US: What to Expect

After a successful 2023, Ripple Labs has announced that it is rolling out its payment processing services to the United States. This came via its Senior Director and Head of Product Marketing for Payments, Oliver Segovia and represents a major shift for the company.

Even though Ripple is based in the United States, about 90% of its services and operations are focused on overseas territories. Ripple is now looking to reverse this trend by getting US-based money transmitter licenses. All this, of course, will be made possible with its flagship XRP token.

How XRP is Coming to the US

From what Oliver Segovia has revealed, Ripple Labs is being very intentional about its move into the US market. First, the company plans to hire top talent across major tech hubs like San Francisco, where Ripple Labs now has a head office.

This head office will also play host to a high-profile fintech meetup which will see big names in the company hold panel discussions and much more. These activities will help to raise the profile of the company within the US and signal its arrival to the market after being lowkey for several years and dealing with its legal problems with the SEC.

What This Means for XRP

All of these plans and activities will boil down to more people in the US making use of XRP, Ripple’s native token. XRP has been lauded as an efficient tool for cross-border transactions but most of this use has been overseas.

This is not entirely surprising as many non-US countries top the list for most overseas remittances. But now that Ripple Labs wants XRP to be embraced by US consumers, a whole new demographic will have access to the many things it can do even outside of cross-border transactions.

What XRP Can Do (Outside of International Transfers)

Few cryptos in the market have been as effective as XRP in branding themselves for a specific purpose. It has become the go-to for cross-border transactions that are fast and cheap. In one instance, XRP was used to move millions of dollars worth of crypto in only a few seconds and with only pennies charged as fees. This efficiency has even bagged Ripple Labs a partnership with the likes of Western Union and significantly raised its profile.

But even with this, there are several other things that can be done with XRP, some of which are as follows:

Gambling

In the last few years, cryptocurrencies have become popular on online gambling sites for a plethora of reasons. They offer more control for users, could go up in value, and are often cheaper and faster to process. Naturally, XRP has become a go-to option for online gambling sites, with some giving it preference over others.

If you take a look at a crypto gambling guide on Bitcoincasinos, for example, you’ll see that XRP is more likely than not to be accepted. And given how popular online gambling is in the United States, this specific application will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Investment Vehicle

Like many other tokens, XRP is considered a viable option for investment purposes. XRP is among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap and its per-token price saw a spike last year after Ripple Labs came out on top in its legal battle with the SEC in the United States. Despite the commission implying that it wanted to appeal, the legal matter seems settled, which has had yet another positive effect on the XRP price.

As the token sees more use in the United States, the number of XRP investors is likely to go up.

Domestic Purchases

As much as XRP can function as an investment vehicle, it is also a currency in itself. And over the years, many merchants have started accepting it for their products and services, From Snowbit to MixPay, the list of places where XRP holders can spend their tokens seems to grow longer every year.

If XRP is able to develop a bigger presence in the United States, we can expect that more companies in the country will accept XRP. As the crypto industry matures, we’ve seen a bigger push towards tokens being spent in the same way that fiat currency is and XRP appears to be no different.

Why the US is a Good Move

In many ways, Ripple Labs’ decision to focus on the US market is a good move in the right direction. First, the company has been headquartered there for years and while it has focused more on other countries, it already has something of a presence there.

The US market is even more appealing because Ripple Labs seems to have put its legal issues with the SEC to rest. An expansion would have been tricky if it still had the SEC on its back but this is not the case.

The US is a major hub for crypto activity so Ripple Labs will be able to tap into the existing market. Billions of dollars are remitted in and out of the US each year so a token like XRP which is renowned for cross-border transactions will be able to find a customer base there. And with the crypto industry predicted to enter a bull run this year, now is the perfect time for Ripple Labs to push XRP more aggressively into the market.

Key Takeaways

Ripple Labs is planning to cause a stir in the crypto industry by focusing on its presence in the US after mostly operating abroad for years. In light of this, the company will be hiring new staff and hosting a fintech meetup later this year.

Since it has put its legal issues with the SEC to rest and the wider crypto industry is experiencing a lot of growth, now is a beneficial time for this move. With XRP being pushed more in the market, its application within gambling, domestic payments, cross-border transactions and more can be explored.