In Q1, along with other xRapid pilots customers, we have proved that #xRapid can lower liquidity costs & increase payment speed and transparency using #XRP. We are looking forward to continued successful testing and going into production.https://t.co/hlYDcFyG7o — Mercury-fx Ltd (@mercury_fx_ltd) 26 April 2018

More exciting news for Ripple as Mercury-FX weigh in on the xRapid system, something which can only provide more positivity for the Ripple camp. As per this tweet, Mercury-FX, a global currency specialist, recognise the lower liquidity costs and increased payment speed that XRP can offer through xRapid. The significant thing here is that, yes, Mercury-FX are testing xRapid, but we think everyone in the world is at the moment. Mercury-FX on the other hand seem to want to go into production with this, are they taking the first steps towards Ripple’s adoption plan? Does this mean that xRapid may be the first of Ripple’s services to be truly integrated into a mainstream payment system? We do know that recently, we have seen 5 new partnerships take foot for Ripple, all of whom are going to be using xVia, an alternative messaging system developed by Ripple. Much like xCurrent, xVia does also allow for the movement of XRP, Ripples currency. As Mercury-FX seem to be looking towards a full scale production with xRapid integration, the changes that xRapid could be subject to are immense. Of course, I’m not referring to changes in the way xRapid works, that will happen over time as the system becomes more universal, I am however referring to changes in how people view xRapid and moreover, how many people know about it. With Mercury-FX seemingly taking the first steps, it won’t be long before other, bigger financial companies want in on the action. At the end of the day, not stepping into a technological revolution can only be damaging for a company. If Mercury-FX take off with this, a failure to integrate by its rivals will see them on a sinking ship, in theory at least. Moreover, we saw a Ripple ‘Ask Me Anything’ take place yesterday, during which Cory Johnson, Ripple’s chief market strategist may have let slip that xRapid is now also being used by Santander. This is huge news. We know that Santander’s new payment transfer app, OnePayFX uses an xCurrent based infrastructure, but now, it seems that xRapid is next to be integrated into Santander’s systems. Does this finally open the door for an XRP based transfer system within Santander? Possibly. You can see the full AMA video for yourself here if you’re interested- https://www.reddit.com/r/Ripple/comments/8exphu/video_link_ask_me_anything_with_brad_and_cory/ If this is indeed correct, xRapid is primed for some big integration, XRP will naturally follow on from that, surely now, it’s only a matter of time?