Major cryptocurrency company Ripple has been deepening its relationship with the Republic of Georgia since
Cryptocurrency major Ripple is deepening its ties to the Republic of Georgia by exploring ways to digitize the local economy with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
Natia Turnava, acting governor of the National Bank of Georgia, and Varlaam Epanoidze, head of the bank’s financial technology development and supervision department, met with James Wallis, CEO of Ripple, to strengthen cooperation in the field of technology financial and digitalization.
The Central Bank of Georgia officially announced the meeting in a LinkedIn post on June 8.
At the meeting, Wallis – who works at Ripple as vice president of central bank engagements – introduced the Georgian officials to Alistair Brown, a representative of EPAM Systems, a Ripple partner.
“It was an honor to return to Tbilisi and introduce Alistair Brown from our partner EPAM Systems to Acting NBG Governor Natia Turnava,” Wallis said.
EPAM, headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, specializes in software engineering, digital platform architecture, and digital product design services. The name “EPAM” is short for “Effective Programming for America.”
The cooperation is based on an existing partnership
According to the official statement issued by the BNG, the discussion focused on exploring potential avenues of cooperation in the digitalization of the Georgian economy.
The new collaboration builds on the previous partnership between NBG and Ripple, with the latter serving as the technology partner for NBG’s CBDC pilot project called Digital Lari.
As previously reported, NBG announced plans to boost research into central bank digital currencies in September 2023, inviting nine companies – including Ripple Labs – to participate in the digital lari project. Subsequently, the financial regulator chose Ripple Labs as the official technology partner for the development of digital lari.
The Central Bank of Georgia is not the only global central bank collaborating with Ripple to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and associated integrations. Besides Georgia, Ripple Labs has also participated in digital currency trials by central banks in countries like Colombia, Bhutan, Pulau, Montenegro and others.
about: Ripple CEO Says XRP ETF Is “Inevitable” – Consensus 2024
In late 2023, Ripple doubled down on its public support for the development of a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a 23-page white paper. “Central bank digital currencies are needed to support the most significant positive impacts of asset tokenization, an increasingly targeted mechanism for converting tangible assets into digital tokens stored on the blockchain,” the company wrote.
While companies like Ripple support the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), some critics are concerned about the potential downsides of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), such as privacy concerns and surveillance. government.
review: Become a digital crypto nomad in Bali like me: here’s how
