XRP Cross-Border Payments Promoted By Coinbase

Now I know we pulled a cruel April fools joke on you yesterday, but we had good intentions so try not to take it to seriously! It seems that we weren’t the only company that thought to trick the community as Ripple enthusiasts are trying to figure out if a new page on Coinbase is an elaborate joke or not in the spirit of April Fools.

You can see the web page here on the crypto exchange site which describes how users can now send money from one Coinbase account to another with no extra fees by using Ripple XRP or USD Coin as a bridge currency.

“You can now send money to any user with a Coinbase account around the world using XRP or USDC. By using cryptocurrencies that are optimized for cross-border transmission, you can send and receive money virtually instantly by sending those cryptocurrencies and having the recipient convert them into local currency. There’s zero fee for sending to other Coinbase users and a nominal on-chain network fee for sending outside of Coinbase.”

The US crypto exchange has been careful in pointing out that the platform hasn’t launched a money remittance service and list three stipulations.

“1. This is not a money remittance; rather, it is a cryptocurrency transaction with conversion into local currency after receipt.

2. Network fees charged on transfers to non-Coinbase accounts; purchases and sales of XRP are subject to a Coinbase fee.

3. In countries where Coinbase does not support the local currency, recipients need to transfer their XRP/USDC to an exchange that supports exchanges from XRP/USDC to local currency.”

If you have good eyes you may have noticed the fine print in which Coinbase essentially describe the fact that its users can send XRP and USDC to each other and then convert the digit assets to their local currency.

“Anyone around the world can receive XRP or USDC by opening a Coinbase account or by using compatible wallet software (like Coinbase Wallet). Once a recipient accesses their XRP/USDC, they can convert that XRP or USDC to their local currency in the 40+ countries where Coinbase has banking support. If the recipient is in a country that does not yet have Coinbase banking support, they can always transfer the XRP/USDC to a local exchange that supports conversions from XRP/USDC to local currency. You can access a list of exchanges that support USDC here.”

So maybe it wasn’t a joke after all?