Ripple’s vice president of global policy has made a bold prediction that a major U.S. retailer would enable crypto purchases before the end of next year.
Crypto market sentiment is largely bullish going into the new year. With the first set of spot Bitcoin ETFs almost set to go live in the coming months, many are already heralding 2024 as the year that cryptocurrencies reach mainstream adoption.
Ripple’s vice president of global policy, Rob Grant, shares similar sentiments and has made bold predictions about the emerging industry going into the new year. One such major forecast is that a major U.S. retailer will open the doors for crypto payments to customers.
If and when the prediction does come true, it would mark another critical step in the adoption of cryptocurrencies. It would also pave the way for these assets to serve its core use case around payments, which their speculative appeal has mostly overtaken.
Notably, the Ripple VP of policy did not specify which major U.S. retailers he expects to be in the running to adopt crypto payments. Additionally, Rob Grant did not mention if the move would involve Ripple-backed XRP or if the company is pursuing any potential partnerships on that front.
Yet, it is publicly known that Ripple’s core product revolves around facilitating global payments with XRP. Therefore, such major adoption might potentially involve XRP and further enhance the mainstream perception of the cryptocurrency.
CBDCs Also On The Way
Beyond native cryptocurrencies, Ripple’s vice president of global policy predicts that 2024 will see the advent of central bank-backed digital currencies (CBDCs). Many central banks around the world are already experimenting with the technology, some in conjunction with Ripple.
2️⃣ A major U.S. retailer will accept a cryptocurrency as a form of payment, allowing Americans the ability to use blockchain-based payments for everyday purchases.
— Ripple (@Ripple) December 21, 2023
However, Rob Grant believes the coming year will see a G7 country introduce a CBDC. G7 nations include countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and the EU. The Ripple official believes that a move by one of these countries to launch a CBDC would usher “in a new age of government-backed currencies.”
