In a November 2 announcement, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) revealed it had selected Ripple as its official technology partner for the Digital Lari (GEL) pilot project.
This partnership signifies a significant step forward in exploring blockchain technology and its applications in the realm of national digital currencies.
Ripple emerged victorious in a rigorous selection process that involved nine shortlisted companies. These companies were carefully assessed for their capabilities to support the pilot project, and Ripple’s technical excellence and the expertise of its team ultimately secured its position as the technology partner of choice.
In NBG’s announcement, Natia Turnava expressed satisfaction with the selection, stating, “We were pleased to select Ripple as the official technology partner for our Digital Lari (GEL) pilot project following a thorough review of all shortlisted parties.”
James Wallis highlighted the innovative nature of the partnership as the NBG pioneers blockchain technology to digitize its economy, stating that Ripple’s CBDC Platform is set to drive transformative progress in public sector blockchain use. This collaboration demonstrates a commitment to innovation, efficiency, and the empowerment of entities through secure and transparent blockchain transactions.
Ripple’s CBDC solution, the Ripple CBDC Platform, is designed to provide a holistic end-to-end solution for central banks, financial institutions, and governments. It enables them to seamlessly mint, manage, transact, and redeem Central Bank Digital Currencies. Notably, this technology is powered by the XRP Ledger (XRPL), an energy-efficient and open-source blockchain.
The NBG’s choice of Ripple as the technology partner for its national digital currency pilot project was based on Ripple’s deep understanding of the project’s purposes and use cases, as well as its unwavering commitment to project success, sustainable business continuity, clear project development roadmap, and gradual deployment approach to use cases.
Additionally, NBG highlighted Ripple’s extensive experience conducting real-life pilot project deployments, ranging from primary CBDC digital infrastructure to smart contracts and tokenization.
In addition to its partnership with NBG, Ripple mentioned it is actively engaged in five pilot programs with governments and central banks in Bhutan, Palau, Montenegro, Colombia, and Hong Kong. Furthermore, discussions are underway with over 20 countries worldwide.
