Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse Has Made Quite the Crypto Prediction for 2020 13

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse Has Made Quite the Crypto Prediction for 2020

Ripple CEO Expects Banks to Delve Into Digital Assets in 2020

Despite what reports may say, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies saw a great 2019, growing in terms of adoption and technological prowess as this year has gone on by.

While this is positive in and of itself, industry executives expect 2020 to be even better. In a post published to Ripple’s blog, it was revealed that the fintech company’s chief executive, Brad Garlinghouse, believes that “half of the top 20 biggest banks in the world will actively hold and trade digital assets in 2020.”

This is quite the prediction, especially considering that as far as the public knows, no top-20 banks hold cryptocurrencies, let alone Bitcoin or XRP.

Banks Are Entering Crypto Fray

While there isn’t any evidence that there are banks at the moment that are holding and trading cryptocurrencies, be it XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, or otherwise, there are clear signs that banks and other top financial institutions are starting to dabble in the technology.

  • Spanish bank Santander, the 17th largest banking institution on this planet, was recently revealed to have started using Ethereum for bond issuances and completions. The bank in September settled a $20 million bond entirely on Ethereum. In the wake of the bond settlement, the company expressed its excitement about the pilot, specifically looking to how the blockchain-based system “reduced the number of intermediaries required in the process, making the transaction faster, more efficient and simpler.”
  • Deutsche Bank has recently started to pilot blockchain applications. For cryptocurrency in specific, the company has purportedly become a sponsor for Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain’s IPO. Also, a recent report from the bank gave Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies a nod, claiming that such assets may be a successor to the current fiat system.
  • Dutch bank ING has purportedly started working on crypto custody solutions. Breaking the news, Reuters, which cited sources “familiar with the matter,” noted that the aim of the initiative is to provide the institution’s clients with crypto-security solutions. ING said in a statement to Reuters that it “sees increasing opportunities with regard to digital assets on both asset backed and native security tokens.” An executive of the bank has also said that he expects for a G20 country to have launched a digital currency in the coming five years.

As put best by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in a recent interview with Asian crypto-centric research boutique/outlet Global Coin Research:

We are also seeing an increasing amount of interest from institutional players which also indicates a more bullish market in 2020.

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