Uphold, the San Francisco-based digital payments and wallet provider has added Ripple’s native digital asset, XRP to its platform. In a move that resulted from a huge public demand among other factors, XRP joins other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash which was also added recently in the platform which has members from over 180 countries worldwide.
Uphold held a poll on Twitter in which it requested its members to vote for the cryptocurrency they would most like to see added to the platform. The four coins listed were Cardano, Monero, Stellar and Ripple. After 12,226 votes, Ripple emerged a clear favorite with a commanding 51% lead. Monero, Stellar and Cardano were second, third and fourth respectively.
This wasn’t the only reason XRP was added however. Ripple’s transaction fees which are among the lowest in the market were also a consideration. With many of Uphold members using the platform to send money internationally, Ripple will be a favorite. Ripple settles transactions in just four seconds, way ahead of its competitors.
Uphold becomes the biggest platform in the U.S that offers XRP and this news will be very welcome among Ripple’s ever-growing community. Coinbase, the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S is yet to add XRP despite several unconfirmed reports earlier this year that it planned on doing so. Uphold users will not be charged any transaction fees for the first 5 million XRP they purchase.
Uphold was founded in 2013 as Bitreserve by renowned techpreneur, Halsey Minor. Minor is also the founder of CNET. It has since then grown in leaps and bounds and has facilitated more than $3 billion worth of transactions since then. It allows its members to hold, convert and send over 30 fiat and digital currencies.
Earlier this year, Uphold raised $57.5 million from Greg Kidd through his investment vehicle, Hard Yaka. Greg was also among the early investors in Ripple Labs. The money was used to improve efficiency in Uphold’s platform, add XRP and fund the creation of a research center. The center which will be known as Uphold Labs will work on several projects, most of them involving Ripple.
