In terms of what the year 2022 brings, the Ripple general counsel earlier stated that this year would be one in which all attention will be on cryptocurrency legislation, with the industry's future on the line. In the last year, the cryptocurrency industry nearly quadrupled in value while also achieving key adoption milestones.
Though technology innovation is frequently met with hostility, he went on to add that economic competitors outside the United States are swiftly adopting digital assets, blockchain-enabled real-time payments and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
In the latest updates in the Ripple case, the SEC has submitted a reply to support its letter filed in late April, where it insisted that Hinman's emails were protected by attorney-client privilege. The latest reply to the Ripple defendants stated that former SEC official William Hinman received legal advice from the SEC's attorneys and that, thus, the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege and could not be presented in court.
Undeterred by the ongoing lawsuit, Ripple has moved to collaborate with FINCI, a Lithuania-based online platform for transferring funds. By scoring this partnership, Ripple plans to create a payments corridor using its ODL platform, which is powered by $XRP, so that FINCI customers can send money from Europe to Mexico (business-to-business payments).
Ripple's ODL network already spans 22 countries and destinations, including Mexico, Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines.