On November 23, US-based major cryptocurrency company Ripple made an announcement regarding its new strategic partnership with the Republic of Palau. Specifically, Ripple and the Republic of Palau have teamed up to facilitate the launch of national stablecoin.
Palau Makes A Move to Ripple
Paula’s national stablecoin looks to be the main focus, along with the exploration of its use cases, backed by the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The idea is to create a USD-backed stablecoin that leverages other services in the country, such as enterprise registration.
Under the partnership, the exchange will support Palau in developing and completing the technical framework, business and design for Palau’s first national digital currency.
Ripple explained the motives behind Palau’s decision,
“Palau chose Ripple because of its extensive experience in blockchain and building global payment systems, and the XRP Ledger because it’s carbon-neutral and 120,000x more energy-efficient than proof-of-work blockchains.”
Palau’s move is similar to El Salvador’s. Neither country has fiat currency and citizens use the US dollar as legal tender. Their intentions are what sets them apart.
While El Salvador became the first country that officially adopts Bitcoin, the small island located in Oceania does not plan to adopt XRP or any other digital currency as legal currency. Paula intends to issue its own digital version of a government-regulated dollar.
A Stablecoin is a digital currency based on Blockchain that, as the name implies, has a stable value.
A Stablecoin’s price is pegged to another stable asset, such as gold or fiat money (USD, EUR, GBP). In the midst of the volatility of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, stablecoins emerge as a promising alternative that can replace traditional payment systems, ensuring a stable and global price.
The President of Palau, Surangel S. Whipps Jr. is confident that Ripple can provide the technology needed to develop a financial product that suits Palau’s needs.
To wit,
“As part of our commitment to lead in financial innovation and technologies, we are delighted to partner with Ripple,” the president stated. “The first phase of the partnership will focus on a cross-border payments strategy and exploring options to create a national digital currency, providing the citizens of Palau with greater financial access.”
Despite the SEC lawsuit against Ripple that was filed on December 22, the exchange has announced its expansion in customers base and human resources.
Ripple is continuously growing and scaling, attracting the interest of customers and high-profile human resources to manage and operate the system.
Notably, there are bright faces from Apple, PayPal, Amazon, Tesla and Twitter platforms.
In particular, Ripple has succeeded in inviting Sandie O’Connor, former CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to the Board of Directors to provide solutions on regulatory relationships with the government and initiatives to promote growth in the United States.
Crypto Cities
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum digital currency, released a document dubbed “Crypto Cities” earlier this month, highlighting the growing interest of many cities around the world in a number of new technologies, including cryptocurrencies.
On that basis, Buterin recommends combining many of these top city technologies with cryptocurrency technology to create crypto cities.
As countries and territories such as Palau move toward a more prevalent blockchain future, the concept of crypto city appears to be too bad to be untrue.
Take, for example, small Baltic nations like Estonia, or cities like Tallinn, which are already embracing blockchain to enable totally digital governments that can work from anywhere in the city.
Surprisingly, El Salvador’s President voiced a similar issue in an official statement on November 20. El Salvador, according to the President, aims to set up a “Bitcoin city” with funds generated from the issuance of bonds.
Bitcoin City is planned to be set up in the area east of La Union, uses geothermal energy from volcanoes to mine cryptocurrencies and will be exempt from all taxes, except value added tax (VAT).
