The cryptocurrency gained momentum in payments Thursday as C1 Fund Inc. purchased shares of Ripple Inc. C1, which focuses on digital assets and blockchain technology, did not announce the size of the investment or other financial terms.
Ripple is well known in the payments space for its XRP ledger, a decentralized blockchain aimed at processing payments quickly and at low cost. For settlement, Ripple relies on its stablecoin RLUSD. “Ripple’s technology and international reach directly align with our strategy to support core infrastructure and institutional advancements in blockchain finance,” Elliot Han, chief investment officer at C1 Fund Inc., said in a statement.
C1, based in Palo Alto, California, focuses on investments in companies involved in the growing adoption of digital assets.
Ripple has been keen to keep crypto transaction processing low-cost for users. It created the XRP ledger in 2012 with a view to rapid settlement while processing up to 1,500 transactions per second, with fees in fractions of a cent per transaction.
In related news, BIT Mining Ltd., a company that provides technology for processing cryptocurrencies, announced that it is changing its name to SOLAI Ltd. The move represents a shift in the company’s focus from investing in cryptocurrency mining to technology incorporating artificial intelligence for blockchain processing, the company said.
“We see the next wave of innovation emerging where intelligent systems connect to decentralized infrastructure, enabling faster, safer and more efficient exchange of information and value,” Bo Yu, president of BIT Mining, said in a statement.
