Ripple CEO Hits Out at Reports Claiming Firm Is Pivoting From Interbank Payments

The CEO of Ripple has firmly criticized the Financial Times for saying his company was moving away from wholesale cross-border payments.

• On Twitter late Thursday, CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, "Ripple has absolutely no plans to ‘reset’ our strategy" and that banks around the world were already using the XRP token as a cross-border payment solution.
• The FT reported Thursday that Ripple was ditching its solely bank-focused strategy for a more diversified approach – a platform offering payment services for financial institutions and everyday consumers.
• Quoting Garlinghouse, the FT said Ripple would use its XRP token hoard to create whole new use cases and become the "Amazon of the cryptocurrency world."
• Ripple's primary aim has been its blockchain interbank settlement layer, which makes cross-border transactions cheaper and faster than traditional wire transfers. Clients can optionally convert fiat currencies into XRP.
• But the FT said Ripple's biggest partner, the Spanish bank Santander, recently decided against using XRP for its cross-border solution, supposedly because it wasn't sufficiently traded in some of its key markets.
• CoinDesk approached Ripple for comment but hadn't received a response by press time.

See also: Goldman Sachs Sells $6.5M of Shares in Ripple Partner MoneyGram: SEC Filing