Ripple, the crypto company behind XRP, has signed a deal with African Payments Company Chipper Cash to launch a crypto-based transfer across the continent. The partnership announced today will use Ripple payments to power cross-border payments for 5 million Chipper users across nine African countries.
According to the announcement provided, the goal is to receive money from overseas at any time, day or night, depending on the traditional banking system.
Chipper users can instantly get global transfers, 24/7, 24/7. The idea is to kill the friction and delays that usually come with sending money to African markets. The deal pushes Ripple even further into Africa. This is the movement following the initial expansion on the continent in 2023 via Onafriq.
Ripple connects to chipper to expand global payment rails
In a statement, Ripple’s Middle East and Africa Managing Director Reece Merrick said the company is currently working with Chipper to use blockchain to make faster and cheaper payments. “The partnership with Chipper Cash is a key milestone in Ripple’s expansion of business in Africa,” Reece said. He explained that adding Ripple’s system to Chipper’s platform explains how it will promote more crypto use in local markets, while providing better access for users to send across borders and receive money.
Lease said Ripple has been doing this kind of work for over a decade and their journey began with putting Fiat currency on the blockchain to fix international remittances. Now that more businesses are considering crypto for payments, Reece said this is just the next step in the process.
Ham Serunjogi, co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash, said his company would like to use Ripple’s global Crypto network to begin better access to the global market. “Crypto-enabled payments can enable greater financial inclusion, accelerate access to global markets, and empower businesses and individuals across Africa,” Ham said. He added that faster transfers with reduced costs are the main advantage they are trying to offer.
Chipper Cash has been building a user base across Africa for years. This transaction has led to more tools to expand payment services. With Ripple integration, they now offer direct access to crypto-driven global remittances that are independent of banking, banking hours, and local currency restrictions.
Ripple ends four-year court battle with Sec
The Chipper deal comes shortly after Ripple finally closed its lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which began in December 2020. The company announced it had agreed to withdraw its own appeal after paying a total of $50 million penalty of $125 million. The SEC also agreed to leave the appeal and to end one of the longest and most expensive legal battles in the crypto world.
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Aldeloty confirmed the news in a statement posted to X. “Last week, the SEC agreed to remove the appeal without a condition. Ripple now agreed to drop that cross appeal.”
The remaining $75 million from the penalty (a huge sum of money sitting in an escrow account with interest) is being returned to Ripple. Stuart also said that the SEC relies on the final court process and committee vote, but the SEC will ask for the removal of the injunction it placed on Ripple early.
This legal battle began on his final day under former SEC chairman Jay Clayton. The incident accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion by selling XRP without registering it as security. This has become one of the biggest enforcement actions against crypto companies. Ripple did not retreat. Over the course of four years, he spent about $150 million in legal costs to fight claims and defend his position that XRP is not security.
