Given the latest run-up in the 2020 XRP bull market, the latest news of Bank of America joining RippleNet came short. Hence, this article focusses on both the Flare Network Airdrop and the fact that Bank of America joins RippleNet.
What is Flare Network?
Liquidary was one of the first outlets to cover the Flare Network Airdrop and gave an outline of what`s about to come in terms on the Spark Token distribution. To be precise Flare Network will be a fork of XRP.
Flare Network is designed as a DeFi protocol that enable various DeFi products to be launched on it. It is a multi-token system in which users can leverage their XRP and other assets in a variety of ways. Some critic might say this is also a step to give XRP more utility and further differentiate it from XRP being a security.
Flare Network was created by Xpring, an investment branch of Ripple. Flare Network is going to integrate Ethereum’s virtual machine and thus enable the introduction of smart contracts.
The first product of Flare Network is called FlareX, which is a decentralized exchange that supports swaps like Uniswap. In combination with its own USD stablecoin called FlareUSD and Flare Farm, a governance platform will then follow, which enables yield farming Flare is building its DeFi ecosystem that is supposed to compete with the Ethereum`s DeFi landscape.
FlareUSD is the basis for three other platforms and enables, for example, loans, investment funds and yield farming. A pool called FlareMine is also to be created to provide liquidity.
Flare Network – Spark Token Distribution
To qualify for the Spark Token Airdrop, holders must hold their Ripple (XRP) in a supported wallet at the time of the snapshot. The snapshot will then take place on December 12, 2020 and determine all addresses that qualify for the Spark Token airdrop. Co-founders such as the controversial Jed McCaleb, who holds a large amount of XRP, are excluded from the Spark Token airdrop.
The number of Spark Tokens distributed equals to the number of XRPs, i.e. 45 billion pieces. All tokens that are not used after six months will be burned. A list of exchanges that support the Airdrop is available on the Flare Network website. Spark Tokens can also bei claimed with a variety of different wallets.
2020 XRP Bull Market triggered by Spark Token Airdrop
Given the latest rally of Bitcoin, XRP followed sharply amidst the rising awareness of the Spark Token Airdrop. In the past days and weeks we have seen a sharp increase in XRP price of almost 300% resulting in (temporary) top at around 0.80$.
Despite the recent pump, the XRP/USD pair is still down over 75% from its All-Time-high at the time of writing this article. Also, it is questionable if this is a “Buy the Rumour, Sell the News” event – as it is typical in crypto bull markets.
Time will tell where XRP tops out during this bull market. Crypto Twitter, however, over the last couple of days had very mixed feelings about the coin ranging from typical “It`s a scam” claims to predictions of over 10$.
What is RippleNet?
RippleNet is a network based on Ripple’s products developed for banks and financial institutions. RippleNet is built in order combine payments and other financial transactions into one common platform on which its clients can build on.
What problems does RippleNet solve?
In short, intra-bank settlements. Intra-bank settlements are especially important when it comes to cross-border transactions. Everyone who has already dealt with sending money around the globe using traditional banking infrastructure knows how costly and painful it is. Surely, PayPal & Co are great but still there is a large market for direct bank to bank transfers. Of course there is the argument of centralization, but in the end the reality is that still most systems are centralized. While Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency might be the future, the reality today is that there is a market need for fast cross-border inter-bank settlements.
The great advantage of RippleNet is that it is currency-independent, as the XRP token used in the network can be exchanged for any currency imaginable. This enables banks to significantly reduce their costs for cross-border transactions.
Bank of America joins RippleNet
Ripple has confirmed its collaboration with Bank of America (BoA). Ripple welcomes BoA as one of their main clients at RippleNet alongside with Banco de Santander, Standard Chartered, Nium, SCB, Moneynet, and others.
The cooperation between RippleNet and BoA is not suprising given rumors that date back to 2019. That year, Bank of America filed a patent based on Ripple’s distributed ledger technology. Another important fact is that the second largest bank in the United States has been part of Ripple’s Global Payments Management Group since 2016.
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