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- Mercury FX is chosen by IFWG to test the regulatory treatment of XRP for low cost and fast remittance
- The testing that will be done in terms of South Africa Exchange Control regulations could possibly take more than six months
- Among 52 applications for the Regulatory Sandbox, only six were chosen, among which five were blockchain and cryptocurrency-related solutions
Mercury FX, a United Kingdom-based e-money firm and a long-term partner of the world’s one of the major fintech firms Ripple. The firm uses the XRP based On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) payments solutions. This weekend, the e-money firm announced that it had been chosen by South Africa’s Inter-governmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) as the first companion of its Regulatory Sandbox. According to Mercury FX, it harnesses the XRP blockchain and wants to demonstrate its technology’s potential.
How will Mercury FX help the IFWG with its Regulatory Sandbox?
Mercury FX claims to have piloted the use of its technology in the Mexican and Philippines regions. It is known that the firm’s solution, which is aided by the Ripple blockchain, will now enable low-cost cross-border remittances. Moreover, to help Mercury with its objective, Ripple also announced partnering with Valr, a local crypto exchange.
According to IFWG, the e-money firm is testing the regulatory treatment and associated reporting implications and obligations of crypto assets. Mainly all the testing will be done in terms of South African Exchange Control Regulations. However, only cryptocurrencies that are being used for effecting low-value cross-border remittances between South Africa and the UK are being tested.
Furthermore, it is also known that the conclusion of the testing that can possibly last for the next six months will provide clarity. Clarity like on how such innovation could be treated from a regulatory perspective in the coming days. Ultimately, it will be promoting regulatory certainty.
Five blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions are accepted
Last year, when the application window for the Regulatory Sandbox was closed, IFWG received a total of 52 applications. However, among all the applications, only six were selected. Among the six selected applications, five were crypto and blockchain-related solutions. Among the five, it is known that other firms like Mercury FX will also be testing the treatments of XRP. Moreover, a firm, Centbee, will be testing the treatments of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision for such lower cross-border remittances issues. However, Centbee will be testing the solution between South Africa and Ghana.
