Ripple Expands Partnership with Georgia's Central Bank to Digitize National Economy
Summary:
Cryptocurrency giant Ripple is strengthening its relationship with the Republic of Georgia by exploring ways to digitize the nation's economy in partnership with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). A meeting was held where NBG's acting governor and the head of its financial and technology department discussed fintech collaboration with Ripple's executive, James Wallis. This initiative builds on a pre-existing relationship where Ripple serves as a technological partner for NBG's pilot Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project, 'digital lari'.
Crypto giant Ripple is bolstering its relationship with the Republic of Georgia by investigating methods to digitalize the nation's economy in partnership with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). The NBG's interim governor, Natia Turnava, teamed up with Varlam Ebanoidze, the leader of the bank's Financial and Supervisory Technology Development Department, in a meeting with James Wallis, a Ripple executive, to fortify collaborations in fintech and digital transition. The Georgian central bank formally publicized the meeting via a LinkedIn post on June 8. In this meeting, Wallis, holding the position of Vice President of Central Bank Engagements at Ripple, introduced Georgian officials to Alistair Brown, a representative from Ripple’s partner, EPAM Systems.
Wallis expressed his elation at returning to Tbilisi and introducing Alistair Brown from EPAM Systems, Ripple's partner, to Natia Turnava, the Acting Governor of NBG. EPAM, stationed in Newtown, Pennsylvania, is a specialist in software engineering services, digital platform engineering, and digital product design with "Effective Programming for America" as its acronym.
The foundation of this cooperation lies in the pre-existing partnership between the NBG and Ripple. As per the NBG’s official statement, the meeting focused on searching potential pathways for digitalizing the Georgia economy. Ripple serves the NBG as the technical partner for its experimental CBDC project termed the digital lari, essentially fortifying their previous alliance. In September 2023, the NBG revealed its intentions to enhance CBDC research, inviting nine firms, including Ripple Labs, for participation in the digital lari project. Following this, Ripple Labs was chosen as the official tech partner for the digital lari development.
The Georgian central bank isn't the only global central bank aligning with Ripple for CBDC development and associated integrations. Besides Georgia, Ripple Labs has also participated in CBDC pilot projects in countries such as Colombia, Bhutan, Pulau, Montenegro and others.
In late 2023, Ripple strengthened its public endorsement for global CBDC development via a 23-page white paper. According to Ripple, CBDCs are indispensable to bolster the most notable positive influences of asset tokenization, a progressively used technique to convert tangible assets into digital tokens stored on blockchain. Despite companies like Ripple backing CBDC development, there are apprehensions related to prospective CBDC-related drawbacks, particularly privacy concerns and governmental surveillance.
Published At
6/10/2024 2:11:36 PM
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