Ripple shells out $15.1M for MoneyGram ‘market development fees’

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In what continues to be an odd strategic partnership, Ripple paid MoneyGram a total of $15.1 million in the second quarter of 2020. According to MoneyGram’s Q2 2020 report, Ripple shelled out $15.1 million in XRP; however, this amount was offset by transaction and trading expenses of $6.3 million, leaving MoneyGram with a profit of $8.8 million from Ripple.

MoneyGram receives the payout according to how much volume they transfer over Ripple’s on-demand liquidity platform each month. That being said, the $15.1 million Ripple paid MoneyGram this past quarter is $1.5 million less than the $16.6 million that they paid MoneyGram in Q1 2020. In total, Ripple has paid MoneyGram $43 million to provide liquidity for its ODL network.

But even MoneyGram doesn’t want XRP

In 2019, a MoneyGram spokesperson was quoted by The Block saying the company sells the XRP that it receives each quarter—as soon as it comes in. This goes to show that even Ripple’s business partner knows that the XRP digital currency is worthless. 

Why? Because there is zero development taking place on XRP, and Ripple does not have any revenue-generating branches of the company. Even when it comes to Ripple’s business partners, who are supposed to help the company generate revenue, you see that Ripple pays their partners to use their platform and that they aren’t actually receiving any revenue from these partnerships.

Here is a fun quote from the CEO of Ripple:@bgarlinghouse clarified “We would not be profitable or cash flow positive [without selling XRP], I think I’ve said that. We have now.”

Dumping $XRP on you is how Ripple stays alive. https://t.co/H2KwsANDVo

— Luke Martin (@VentureCoinist) March 1, 2020

Even Ripple sells XRP every quarter. Earlier this year, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse told the Financial Times that, “[Ripple] would not be profitable or cash flow positive [without selling XRP]. 

Ripple is a sinking ship

Unlike Bitcoin, Ripple has no utility, and no value-creation is taking place within the XRP ecosystem. Ripple is a sinking ship that is only staying afloat (cash-flow positive) because they regularly dump millions of dollars worth of XRP on the market. Although their market sales are keeping the company alive for the time-being, Ripple’s money will run out one day, and the company will be left without any revenue streams.