Bitcoin Cash Grabs Headlines, But Ripple Has Banks’ Attention

Banks are paying attention to digital tokens along with the rest of the financial world, but some tokens might be more important to banks than others.

Coins and forks rule the news these days. With the recent arrival of new cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash, which has split off from the Bitcoin blockchain and is currently trading under the tickers BCC or BCH, cryptocurrencies seem to be in a particular hype cycle at the moment.

As always, crypto-enthusiasts agree that these digital coins are the money of the future, despite debates over block sizes, and code, and the fast-growing market cap of these currencies seems to support that argument.

Bitcoin Cash, for instance, is already on par in market cap with Ripple’s XRP token; the two are vying for third place on the list of most valuable digital currencies, after Ethereum and Bitcoin. However, while Bitcoin Cash is growing in value and popularity and media attention, it’s XRP that’s growing in influence.

The token is issued by enterprise blockchain solutions provider Ripple, which provides cross-border payments and remittance services, among other blockchain solutions. Currently, 75 banks and payments providers are active on Ripple’s network, and the company is partnered with about 90 additional banks across the globe, including Standard Chartered Bank, Westpac, Banco Santander, National Australia Bank, and BBVA, not to mention smaller players such as Cross River Bank and Weir, Kansas-based CBW.

Bitcoin Cash is partnered with, er, zero banks and payment providers though more exchanges, such as Coinbase, are now supporting it.

This lack of partnership is by design, as cryptocurrencies are somewhat notoriously anti-centralized banking, but it means the currency sits outside today’s financial ecosystem, and all of the global expansion that ecosystem offers.

Aside from its existing partnerships with banks, tokens like Ripple’s XRP might have another advantage for the financial world: speed. Cross-border payments with XRP can take as little as 4 seconds to clear, according to company statements. Presently, it can take upwards of 10 hours to mine a block (where transactions of the currency are stored) of Bitcoin Cash.

Bitcoin Cash, like other cryptocurrencies, might have more worth to the financial world as a security than a method of financial exchange: currently, an XRP is trading at about $0.17, while one Bitcoin Cash is trading at $270. That should grab your attention, too.