• Use of XRP as a payment method is growing across industries.
• Partial Ripple win over the US SEC is a major trigger for this massive adoption.

Crypto payment firm BitPay has highlighted some of the numerous stores and merchants that welcome the use of Ripple’s XRP as a payment alternative. Altogether, it turned out to be that there are 28 XRP-friendly stores where investors can spend their XRP in exchange for goods and services around the world. It is worth noting that a significant percentage of these merchants doubles as BitPay’s merchants.

According to the report from the payment gateway, Ripple’s four seconds transaction settlement time is one of the points of attraction for merchants who have adopted the protocol. Markedly, these merchants are not limited to a specific sector, rather XRP adoption cuts across different kinds of businesses, from the entertainment industry to the transportation sector and many more.

From the entertainment domain, companies like AMC Theatres, Gamesplanet, Prepaid Gamer Online, and Play-Asia.com are some of the top XRP-friendly merchants. Ripple’s XRP is used as payment for games, movies, and other amusing content. Another closely related merchant is Crypto Tourism which provides tourist services and accepts XRP as payment. 

Germany-based firm Auragentum GmbH, a leading precious metal company, is another merchant that encourages the use of XRP for payment. Other leading brokers for precious metals that acknowledge the use of XRP for transaction settlements are American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) and British firm Sharps Pixley. Among these firms backing XRP is Stacks Bowers, a currency-based venture that takes XRP as payments.

Automobile, Healthcare and Others Integrate XRP Payments 

XRP use has expanded to the automobile industry and beyond with airline business card AirBaltic also supporting XRP payments. This form of settlement also applies to O’Gara Coach, a California-based luxury automobile dealer. Japanese company SBI Motors recently registered its support for XRP by adopting the token as well as the leading digital asset Bitcoin (BTC) as a form of payment for cross-border settlements. 

Two months ago, Ripple also partnered with the Central Bank of Colombia Banco de la República, to utilize XRP for faster and cheaper real-time payments for merchants in the country. Ultimately, the focus is to utilize the capabilities of the XRP Ledger to design their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and in turn, transform Colombia’s financial landscape.

Some other luxury brands named by BitPay that leverage XRP for payment are Marc Gebauer Lifestyle GmbH, Jomashop, Ace Jewelers, Hublot, Beliani, PacSun, Wrist Aficionado as well as Stephen Silver Fine Jewelers. Hosting sites and domain name registrars like Namecheap and Hawk Host also accept XRP payments. The list cuts across health services provider American Cancer Society, gadget firms like Scan Computer, Newegg and HOSTKEY B.V as well as food merchants like Takeaway.com. Silicon Valley cloud service company Volante Technologies also recently adopted XRP for clapperboard speed and scalability.

Ripple’s partial victory against the US SEC on July 13th has contributed immensely to the heightened adoption of XRP. Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling that XRP is not security forced the likes of Coinbase and Kraken to relist the token, thus fueling the massive embrace of this coin in recent times.