FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

The company is in informal talks with regulators, banks and payment providers with a view to initially launch its XCurrent software in China. This allows banks to instantly settle cross-border payments with the end-to-end track but which doesn’t use cryptocurrency. Ripple’s head of government and regulatory relations for Asia Pacific Sagar Sarbhai said: “This year you will see more announcements coming in on China, in terms of educating and differentiating us from some of the other cryptocurrencies that are out there. “As we speak, our team is strategising about entering the market, but it’s still very early days.”

GETTY-TWITTER Ripple news: The company is in informal talks with regulators

Mr Sarbhai confirmed the lack of regulatory clarity around blockchain and cryptocurrency in China has so far delayed its market entry but he hopes the company is making progress soon. Last year CEO of Ripple Brad Garlinghouse said the launch in China was imminent. Mr Sarbhai added: “We’re trying to get some regulatory clarity, we’ve started engaging informally with banks, FIs and payment providers, speaking to regulators and government bodies, trying to educate on what Ripple is and what our vision is. “In Asia Pacific we already have live clients in Japan, India, Thailand… We’re in active discussions with almost all the countries in Asia Pacific and are finding one bank almost every week.”

GETTY Ripple news: The company recently partnered with Hong Kong-based money transfer company LianLian

The company recently partnered with Hong Kong-based money transfer company LianLian. This will see the Hong Kong-based company process real-time invoice and e-commerce payments on behalf of businesses using RippleNet, which is Ripple’s payments network. This gives it access to inbound payments market to China, but it is still not present in Mainland China. But Mr Sarbhai said he is “very bullish” on China and the country forms an important part of an aggressive strategy for Asia Pacific. Other issues around entering the Chinese market may be Chinese capital controls.

GETTY Ripple news: Other issues around entering the Chinese market may be Chinese capital controls