Ripple, a major cryptocurrency company, is strengthening its partnership with the Republic of Georgia by exploring ways to modernize the local economy in collaboration with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
Natia Turnava, the acting governor of the NBG, and Varlam Ebanoidze, the head of the bank’s financial and supervisory technology development department, recently met with Ripple executive James Wallis to discuss enhancing cooperation in financial technology and digitalization.
The official announcement of the meeting was made by the Georgian central bank in a LinkedIn post on June 8. During the meeting, Wallis, who holds the position of vice president of central bank engagements at Ripple, introduced the Georgian officials to Alistair Brown from EPAM Systems, a partner of Ripple.
“It was a pleasure to be back in Tbilisi and introduce Alistair Brown from our partner EPAM Systems to NBG Acting Governor Natia Turnava,” Wallis commented.
EPAM Systems, headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, specializes in software engineering services, digital platform engineering, and digital product design. The collaboration between Ripple and EPAM Systems aims to explore potential avenues for digitalizing the Georgian economy.
This partnership builds upon the existing relationship between the NBG and Ripple, where Ripple is the technological partner for the NBG’s digital lari pilot CBDC project. Ripple was selected as the official technology partner for developing the digital lari after the NBG invited nine companies, including Ripple Labs, to participate in the project in September 2023.
In addition to Georgia, Ripple Labs has been involved in CBDC pilots in countries like Colombia, Bhutan, Palau, Montenegro, and others. Ripple has publicly expressed its support for global CBDC initiatives, emphasizing the importance of CBDCs in supporting asset tokenization and transforming tangible assets into digital tokens stored on the blockchain.
While companies like Ripple are championing CBDC development, critics have raised concerns about potential drawbacks of CBDCs, such as privacy issues and government surveillance.