Well look at that - Ripple partners up with National Bank of Abu Dhabi

One small step for humanity, one big step for Ripple. Well, would you look at that. Ripple recently announced their partnership with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). NBAD, became the first bank in the Middle East to use Ripple’s technology and, while it might be a coincidence, it just happens to be the strongest bank in UAE.

“RippleNet” aims to eliminate the need for intermediary banks to facilitate the transfers and also provide an alternate mechanism to the current SWIFT system which is not as technologically advanced. Blockchain technology will bring speed, security, and transparency to the banking sector."

This is not Ripple's only recent partnership. Despite the expected but at the same time unexpected January market crash, Ripple announced several critical projects:

• The Japan Bank Consortium – a coalition of Japanese banks organized by SBI Ripple Asia – announced the launch of a new Ripple pilot with two of South Korea’s largest banks.
• Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL), one of the largest banks in Thailand, teamed up with Ripple to “remove the friction” from cross-border payments.

And mind you, this is only December that we're talking about. You could say that they actually are successful. And then they kick into the new year with the MoneyGram announcement that they would be implementing XRP and Ripple’s xRapid solution to provide on-demand liquidity.

I myself see Ripple's technology as great, but their business model and motive as a threat to the crypto community.

What are your thoughts on Ripple?