Correction: An earlier version of this article stated a Ripple price prediction of $2.00 for 2017. This was the result of an unfortunate typo. Our view—which was laid out in August and reiterated almost daily—maintains that XRP could reach $1.00 in 2017 and $2.00 in 2018. We regret the mistake.

Ripple News Update

Everyone knows that South Korean traders propped up XRP in 2017. However, now that Ripple is opening up payments corridors around the world—for American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) and Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN), no less—we’re seeing Korean banks get more involved with Ripple.

For example, two of the country’s largest banks recently embraced “RippleNet” for their cross-border payments to Japan.

The banks—Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank—are worth a combined $30.0 billion. They are at one end of the payments corridor. And at the other end of the payments corridor are 61 members of the Japan Bank Consortium.

This means that any money flowing from Woori or Shinhan to any of the 61 Japanese banks must go through Ripple’s blockchain.


Why is this a big deal?

Well, for one thing, Japan’s third-largest trading partner is…you guessed it: Korea. The two companies have healthy commercial relationships, which means that a lot of money flows across their borders.

The banks want to join Ripple’s growing network for the simple reason that it will save them money. Customers, on the other hand, will come to love Ripple because it will save them time.

Transfer payments take only seconds to complete using RippleNet, making it frictionless and much faster than our current way of sending international payments.

“The Japan Bank Consortium’s pilot with Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank brings us closer to sending money in an important corridor,” said Emi Yoshikawa, director of partnerships at Ripple. (Source: “Top Korean Banks Work with Japan Bank Consortium to Modernize Cross-border Payments,” Ripple, December 14, 2017.)

“The use of RippleNet to send cross-border payments reinforces that financial institutions are ready to provide a modern payments experience and enable to the Internet of Value.”

Ripple Price Chart:

How Are XRP Prices Reacting?

To be quite honest, I don’t think the market has digested this news.

The predominant narrative of the day centered around a rotation from Bitcoin to Bitcoin Cash. That story is guaranteed to get more traction than an obscure business deal cut by Ripple executives.

As such, XRP to USD exchange rates dropped 7.99% in the pullback, bringing them to $0.765168. However, the XRP to Bitcoin rate was up 3.76% to 0.00004563 BTC.

Analyst Take:

We are not worried about today’s price drop, given that there were similar drops across the entire market. We are still bullish on our $2.00 Ripple price prediction for 2018.

Also Read: Cryptocurrency Price Predictions 2018: Ripple Is the Clear Winner