Georgia increases collaboration with Ripple to modernize its economy

The National Bank of Georgia has teamed up with Ripple to explore potential collaborations in digitizing the country’s economy.
Ripple, a San Francisco-based payments company, has strengthened its partnership with Georgia’s central bank, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), with a focus on boosting the country’s financial technology and digitalization efforts.
During a recent meeting, Ripple’s VP of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), James Wallis, met with NBG’s acting governor, Natia Turnava, and another bank official, Varlam Ebanoidze. A representative from Ripple’s partner EPAM System, Alistair Brown, was also present, underlining the importance of incorporating fintech solutions in driving the digital transformation initiative.
The meeting, as shared in a LinkedIn post on June 8, aimed to discuss opportunities for digitizing Georgia’s economy, building upon a previous partnership between NBG and Ripple that began towards the end of 2023. The earlier collaboration saw NBG select Ripple as its technology partner for a digital Lari (GEL) pilot project, beating out eight other candidates.
The pilot project will utilize Ripple’s CBDC platform to implement the digital Lari initiative, enabling testing across various sectors such as retail and business. Ripple has also engaged in similar CBDC initiatives with central banks of Palau, Bhutan, Montenegro, Colombia, and Hong Kong, demonstrating its commitment to advancing digital currency technology worldwide.
With discussions on CBDC programs ongoing in over 20 countries, Ripple released a comprehensive 23-page paper in December providing insights on the fundamentals, benefits, risks, and challenges of CBDCs to drive adoption.
The expansion of NBG’s partnership with Ripple indicates significant progress in the digital Lari project, showcasing Ripple’s advancements in digital currency technology. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making investment decisions, as this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect The Crypto Basic’s stance. The Crypto Basic shall not be held responsible for any financial losses incurred.