Ripple Aims to Expand into China Without Help From Local Businesses

It has been a while since we last discussed plans by Ripple the company. Some news has been posted in recent weeks, but nothing major. It turns out the company is looking to expand into China, which won’t be easy. Especially when considering Ripple needs to do so without help from local e-commerce partners. This also means the rumor regarding Alibaba is absolutely fake. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, though.

Any company or project in the financial sector hopes to enter the Chinese market. This is done for obvious reasons. Exposure in Asia is invaluable, to say the least. Moreover, given the keen interest China has taken in blockchain, it is only normal some companies try to make a name for themselves there. Ripple is certainly on that list, although they aren’t taking the easy road. More specifically, the company will enter China without external help whatsoever. That is rather uncommon, but not unheard of either.

Ripple Eyes China as the Next Frontier

No one can deny China is a key market for global payments networks. Ripple is building such a network, thus they are looking to enter the Chinese market as a result. The country is home to US$5tn in b2b cross-border payments as well. If the company can only get a fraction of that volume, things look quite promising. More importantly, it doesn’t appear Ripple will face any big competitors in this regard either. China has no efficient and low-cost B2B payment solution as we speak.

An expansion into China is not entirely surprising by any means either. In fact, the success Ripple has in Japan was an indication of future nearby expansion. Then again, they have no Chinese members at this time, which is rather peculiar. The Chinese firms often stick to themselves, though, and will not easily partner with outsiders. It won’t be an easy challenge for Ripple, that much is evident.

It is also worth mentioning an earlier rumor regarding Alibaba has been shut down. More specifically, someone mentioned how Alibaba would run a Ripple validator node, which is not the case. That situation can always change in the future, but for now, this is not the case whatsoever. It is good to see companies such as Ripple try to make inroads in China, though. More competition on a global scale is never a bad idea, to say the least. An interesting development to keep an eye on, that much is evident.

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