Ripple President Makes Big Statement at Paris Blockchain Week
Ahead of the next major blockchain conference, the Paris Blockchain Week decided to remind the crypto community of an important statement made by Ripple’s president, Monica Long, at a previous meeting.
Long’s statement was a bold prediction that even the largest banks need to adopt the technology of decentralized finance as a necessity for their future survival.
“The past couple of years have been a real tipping point for institutional DeFi, where even the biggest of banks are embracing this technology as the future, and they have to adapt or die.”@MonicaLongSF President of @Ripple #XRP #Ripple #MonicaLong #DeFi #Banking #Blockchain… pic.twitter.com/fVjaTy7eSE
— Paris Blockchain Week (@ParisBlockWeek) September 6, 2023
It is interesting how these words by Long not only remain relevant but are being confirmation even right now, when SBI Remit, one of the branches of the powerful Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings, just today announced the expansion of activities in Asia and entry into the payment markets of the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. In particular, it is entering these markets through the creation of a joint venture with Ripple, SBI Ripple Asia.
Importantly, however, the Ripple president’s speech at the time was not just about crypto payment technologies, where the company itself is using and expanding the use of XRP, but more generally about the decentralized finance industry for institutions. Here, we can recall the news from late 2022 that the central banks of France, Switzerland and Singapore, led by BIS, will test DeFi on the Forex markets to facilitate cross-border payments.
On the one hand, decentralized finance can help traditional financial institutions or open a new window of opportunity for institutional investors. On the other hand, DeFi is clearly a competitor for the former and a riskier and more “dark water” field for the latter.