XRP’s Ripple partners with Chipper Cash to launch crypto payments in Africa

Ripple, the crypto firm behind XRP, has signed a deal with African payments company Chipper Cash to launch crypto-based money transfers across the continent. The partnership, announced today, will use Ripple Payments to power cross-border payments for Chipper’s five million users in nine African countries.

According to the announcement provided, the goal is to let people receive money from abroad anytime—day or night—without depending on the slow traditional banking system.

Chipper’s users will be able to get global transfers instantly, 24/7, all year round. The idea is to kill off the friction and delays that usually come with sending money into African markets. With this deal, Ripple is pushing further into Africa, a move that follows its first expansion on the continent through Onafriq in 2023.

Ripple plugs into Chipper to expand global payment rails

In the statement, Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, said the company is now working with Chipper to use blockchain for faster and cheaper payments. “Our partnership with Chipper Cash marks a key milestone in the expansion of Ripple’s business in Africa,” Reece said. He explained that by adding Ripple’s system into Chipper’s platform, they’re giving users better access to send and receive money across borders while also pushing more crypto use in local markets.

Reece said Ripple’s been doing this kind of work for over ten years, and that their journey started by putting fiat currencies on the blockchain to fix international money transfers. Now that more companies are looking at crypto for payments, Reece said this is just the next step in that process.

Ham Serunjogi, Chipper Cash’s Co-Founder and CEO, said his company wants to use Ripple’s global crypto network to open up better access to global markets. “Crypto-enabled payments have the potential to enable greater financial inclusion, accelerate access to global markets, and empower businesses and individuals across Africa,” Ham said. He added that faster transfers with lower costs are the main benefit they’re looking to deliver.

Chipper Cash has been building up its user base across Africa for years, and this deal gives it more tools to expand its payment services. With the Ripple integration, they’re now offering direct access to crypto-powered global money transfers that don’t depend on banks, banking hours, or regional currency restrictions.

Ripple ends four-year court battle with SEC

The deal with Chipper comes right after Ripple finally closed out its lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a fight that started in December 2020. The company announced that it has agreed to drop its own appeal after paying $50 million of the $125 million total penalty. The SEC also agreed to walk away from its appeal, ending one of the longest and most expensive legal battles in the crypto world.

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty confirmed the news in a statement posted on X. “The final crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s – and what should be my last update on SEC v Ripple ever,” Stuart wrote. “Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal.”

The remaining $75 million from the penalty—money that had been sitting in an interest-bearing escrow account—is being returned to Ripple. Stuart also said the SEC will ask the court to remove the injunction it had placed on Ripple earlier, though that still depends on a final court process and a commission vote.

This legal fight started under former SEC Chair Jay Clayton on his last day in office. The case accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion by selling XRP without registering it as a security. That turned into one of the biggest enforcement actions against any crypto company. Ripple didn’t back down. Over the four years, it spent around $150 million in legal fees to fight the charges and defend its position that XRP isn’t a security.