Google-backed blockchain start-up ‘Ripple’ raises $55 million from big banks

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Ripple, a Google-backed start-up that uses blockchain technology to settle financial transactions between some of the world’s biggest banks, has raised $55 million. It is currently working with 15 of the top 50 global banks including UBS and Santander.

To date, the company has raised over $93 million in total funding. At the moment, an international payment may take a few days to make with a very high cost. Ripple said that its technology could give banks a 33 % reduction in their operating costs during this process and allow lenders to move money in seconds.

The company recently opened an office in Luxemburg and is considering Singapore and Frankfurt as the next locations.

Blockchain is a huge, decentralized ledger for the digital currency bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with. Experts say that Blockchain can reduce the risk of errot and time of transacton in a huge way but the technology has to be made secured.###