XRP (XRP) is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and is best known as the crypto used by Ripple for cross-border payments. Prior to Thursday, XRP was the only top-three cryptocurrency not supported by Anchorage, which specifically caters to institutional investors.
Digital custody provider Anchorage has added custodial support for XRP, the company announced in a Thursday blog post.
Anchorage began supporting XRP on its website formally on Wednesday, its website showed.
«As the third-largest digital asset by market cap, XRP appeals to a number of our institutional clients, which include VC funds, family offices, hedge funds, and other large-scale crypto investors”, Diogo Monica, president of Anchorage said.
In a press release, Anchorage said that “an ecosystem of institutions” are already holding XRP.
XRP joins 18 other digital assets already supported by Anchorage. Monica said that Anchorage is willing to add custodial service for any digital asset that meets the bar.
“Anchorage has always aimed to support every asset that meets our standards of quality and security, and XRP does both. Particularly during these uncertain times, we’re proud to be growing our list of supported assets and improving operational efficiency for our institutional clients”, he said.
EGifter Will Be Among First BitPay Merchant To Accept XRP Cryptocurrency
BitPay, a leading provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, announced on Jan. 21 the launch of XRP payments and cross-border transfers. BitPay has also added support for XRP – the cryptocurrency used by Ripple’s payment network – to the BitPay Wallet app.
Although rumors were circulating on Jan. 20 across Twitter and Reddit that BitPay had added support for XRP, the company officially confirmed its work with Ripple’s developer platform Xpring to complete the integration.
According to BitPay’s CMO, Bill Zielke, BitPay merchants around the world are now able to accept XRP without any additional integrations required. Zielke said:
“With the addition of XRP, BitPay continues to expand consumers’ ability to transact in the currency of their choice and give merchants new exposure to a large base of loyal XRP users intent on driving real-world adoption.”
eGifter will be among first to accept XRP
Zielke also noted that e-commerce site eGifter is scheduled to be one of the first merchants to accept XRP, though technical implementation is still pending.
eGifter allows users to easily purchase gift cards that can be used at hundreds of popular retailers. The online gifting platform has been an early adopter of Bitcoin, letting users purchase gift cards with the cryptocurrency since 2014.
Commenting on the XRP integration, eGifter’s CEO, Tyler Roye, said:
“We’re excited to add XRP as a payment option on the eGifter platform, and we welcome XRP early adopters in the same way we did those of Bitcoin in 2014.”
In Jan. 2019, eGifter announced support for Dash payments. The platform also accepts Litecoin.
According to a recent article on Yahoo Finance regarding holiday spending in 2019, eGifter noted that while the exact numbers have not yet been determined, there was growth in overall crypto sales.
Bill Egan, eGifter’s VP of Marketing, told Yahoo Finance, “We saw more gifting with crypto in 2019, compared to buy-for-self use cases in prior years.”
