Ripple Executive: XRP Is Built for Real-Time, Institutional Cross-Border Payments

Published: 2026-01-20 17:09:07 |

Ripple’s Managing Director for Middle East & Africa, Reece Merrick, explained at a Binance panel why Ripple builds its payment products on XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL). He emphasized XRP’s purpose-built design for payments: 2–3 second settlement, support for over 1,500 transactions per second, and very low fees. Merrick said these features reduce counterparty risk, improve liquidity and capital rotation, and enable both institutional-scale flows and individual microtransactions. Ripple’s enterprise pilots, including work with Santander, were cited as examples of XRP’s capacity to handle high-volume cross-border payments. Merrick framed XRP not as a speculative token but as payments infrastructure offering predictable finality, low costs and scalable performance — attributes Ripple views as superior to alternative tokens for enterprise use. (Disclaimer: informational only; not financial advice.)

Bullish

The announcement reiterates XRP’s core utility propositions—near-instant settlement (2–3s), high throughput (1,500+ TPS) and low fees—which directly address frictions in cross-border payments. For traders, reinforcement of XRP’s infrastructure narrative by a senior Ripple executive can support demand from both institutional partners and retail investors seeking utility-led exposure. Historical parallels: positive corporate or partnership news (enterprise pilots, bank integrations) around XRP and other payment-focused tokens have previously correlated with short- to medium-term price upticks as market confidence and perceived adoption prospects rose. Short-term impact: likely bullish sentiment and increased buying interest, especially among traders reacting to on-chain metric improvements or partnership confirmations. Volatility may spike as news is priced in. Long-term impact: if enterprise pilots (e.g., Santander) scale into production and on-chain volumes increase, the fundamental case for XRP as a payment rail strengthens, supporting sustained demand and lower downside risk. Caveats: broader market conditions, regulatory developments (notably past XRP-related litigation), and macro risk will remain dominant drivers; utility messaging alone may not overcome severe bearish macro or legal shocks.