Bitrabo Editorial
Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its plans to create a platform for digital central bank currencies (CBDCs). However, the XRP army, a group of XRP cryptocurrency enthusiasts, has uncovered an IMF report from March 2023 that mentions Ripple as a potential solution. Surprisingly, the links between Ripple Labs and the IMF go back several years.
IMF’s CBDC Platform Initiative
The IMF is developing a CBDC platform to facilitate transactions between countries, according to a report by Reuters. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva emphasized the importance of a global CBDC platform to enable more efficient and equitable transactions. She also warned that if such a platform isn’t established, cryptocurrencies could fill the void.
Georgieva highlighted the rapid adoption of CBDCs worldwide, with 114 central banks currently experimenting and studying their potential. She noted that around 10 central banks have already made significant progress in implementing CBDCs.
Ripple’s Connection to the IMF
In the meantime, the XRP army uncovered an IMF report titled “Trust Bridges and Money Flows: A Digital Marketplace to Improve Cross-Border Payments.” The report, published in March 2023, mentions Ripple and XRP. It presents a model for a global marketplace that enables more efficient cross-border exchange of tokenized money.
The IMF report explores three possible models for this marketplace: a private settlement asset and marketplace like Ripple’s XRP, an open-source marketplace like Stellar Foundation’s or DeFi networks, and a marketplace based on unbacked crypto assets like Strike, which uses Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. The authors of the report argue that the public solution, like Ripple’s, offers significant advantages, including regulated operation, coordination of participation, reliable governance, operational stability, and compliance with financial integrity standards.
Interestingly, Ripple Labs has been collaborating with the IMF for several years. In a presentation from November 2018, Ripple was selected for the High-Level Advisory Group on Fintech, and Chris Larsen, Executive Chairman of Ripple, became a member of the group.
The XRP army also found videos of Ripple representatives speaking at IMF conferences in past years, further illustrating the connection between the two entities.
At the time of writing, the XRP price remains in the lower range, facing resistance at $0.4964.
Featured image from CGTN, chart from TradingView.com