Ripple Inc., payment gateway for hundreds of assets and digital currencies has announced the closure of btc2ripple gateway for all US residents starting September 1, 2015.
Btc2ripple gateway is one of the hundreds of gateways on the Ripple Trade platform which is used to purchase or trade BTC to XRP (Ripple’s IOU). On September 1, Ripple will shut down the btc2ripple gateway for all U.S. residents, which will disallow any Americans from purchasing or depositing BTC using Ripple Trade accounts.
Btc2ripple is operated by a Lithuanian company UAB SKV3, located in Vilnius. The decision to shut down the BTC to XRP gateway was finalized by UAB SKV3, not Ripple Inc.
In a statement, the btc2ripple team announced, “We are discontinuing the btc2ripple service for U.S. residents. All non-U.S. customers will have full access to our service as usual. Starting Sept 1, 2015, you will not be able to make BTC deposits to your Ripple Trade account or make BTC withdrawals from your Ripple Trade account.”
If any U.S.-based accounts hold BTC on or after September 1, all bitcoin will be forfeited.
The majority of Ripple Trade users are based in the United States, and so the closure of btc2ripple may lead to a large decline in bitcoin/xrp trading volume on its platform.
BITSPARK JOINS ACCENTURE ASIA-PACIFIC FINTECH INNOVATION LAB
Hong Kong-based startup Bitspark has been one of the seven startups to join Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific 2015, a “collaboration between a number of the world’s leading banks, such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, China Citic Bank International, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan.”
This year, Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab has been heavily focusing on giving opportunities to startups to work with global banks and financial establishments, and enable the startups to implement their technology within the banks’ infrastructures and existing systems, to optimize operations and to support its clients. Learn more about SKYBLOCK COINS WEBSITE
As the world’s first end-to-end bitcoin remittance system, Bitspark will closely work with Accenture’s mentors and investors to potentially attract international angel investors, venture capital firms and banks to implement their secure and fast method of sending international payments.
Also, Bitspark will introduce its blockchain-powered technology to banks in workshops to search for possible ways to integrate it in different industries and applications.
“There is a clear trend in the banking industry in 2015 that they are ready to engage in the world of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology,” George Harrap, CEO of Bitspark announced. “We are happy to be introducing our world-leading blockchain-powered remittance platform to the financial services industry, who can not only assist us to accelerate our business but also provide us with support, mentorship and the contacts to ensure we can bring our technology to the market in the best way possible.”
