Ripple is looking to expand its footprint in Latin America, launching operations in Brazil and bringing in former American Express and Banco Bradesco exective Luiz Antonio Sacco as managing director.
"In January, Ripple surpassed 200 customers on RippleNet," says Eric van Miltenburg, SVP of global operations. "The company is experiencing rapid customer growth across all markets, and is launching in Brazil in response to high customer demand in South America."
He says the company is adding an average of two to three new financial institutions to RippleNet each week and is now focused on growing its customer base and team in Brazil, and across South America including in countries such as Chile, Peru and Argentina.
Ripple's efforts in Brazil are extending beyond the financial sector, supporting academic research into blockchain use cases at top tier Brazilian universities, including University of São Paulo and Fundação Getulio Vargas.
“We're excited to grow our ecosystem in the region and bring additional financial institutions onto RippleNet to help provide excellent, efficient cross-border payment experiences for their customers," says Sacco. “We believe that academic institutions will play a key role driving the blockchain industry forward. USP and FGV are innovative, forward-thinking institutions that are investing in blockchain research to explore new use cases and help prepare students for future jobs in this space.”