Crypto pundit X Finance Bull has alleged that the Bank of America (BofA) is running tests for cross-border payments using Ripple-linked XRP. This follows an earlier statement from Ripple’s President, Monica Long, about the bank and the potential adoption of crypto. 

Crypto Pundit Alleges That Bank of America Is Using Ripple’s XRP

In an X post, X Finance Bull claimed that the Bank of America is already running tests with Ripple and that cross-border payments are being rewritten. He added that Ripple provides the technology, the bank runs the tests, and the U.S. ensures legality. In line with this, he remarked that XRP is becoming the core financial plumbing. 

In a video shared by crypto pundit Xaif last year, Ripple President Monica Long had mentioned that Bank of America was one of their early partners when they were developing the messaging software online payment solution. However, she didn’t say whether the partnership still exists till now. 

Bank of America notably filed a patent for real-time net settlement using a distributed ledger system, which appeared to be based on Ripple’s payment network. This plan has since been abandoned as the bank never moved forward with the application. The bank has, however, opened up to crypto as it now allows its wealth clients to allocate up to 4% to crypto. The bank is also exploring issuing its stablecoin, which could make it a direct competitor to Ripple. 

Meanwhile, Long also mentioned how several banks had contacted Ripple for payments and custody services after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential elections. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, had also previously mentioned that they secured more partnerships following Trump’s victory, as the U.S. president paved the way for a more regulatory-friendly environment. 

Ripple’s Major Existing Banking Partners

Ripple has notably secured partnerships with other major banking institutions in recent times, as several nations provide a more regulatory-friendly environment. The crypto firm has partnered with Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), which is the largest custodian. The bank serves as the primary reserve custodian of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. 

Furthermore, Ripple recently announced that its Ripple Prime is an early adopter of BNY’s tokenized deposit services for institutional clients. These tokenized deposits operate on the bank’s private blockchain and don’t involve the XRP Ledger or XRP. Other major banks such as AMINA Bank, Absa, and SBI have also partnered with Ripple. 

AMINA recently became the first European bank to integrate Ripple payments into its operations. SBI has also adopted Ripple payments. Meanwhile, the crypto firm provides custody services to Absa, one of South Africa’s largest banks.

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.10, down over 3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

XRP has racked up major wins recently, from regulatory breakthroughs to network upgrades, yet its price continues to slide. A crypto analyst has shared insights into why this is happening, outlining several developments this week that would typically act as bullish catalysts for the XRP price, but have so far failed to push the token out of its downtrend and propel its value to new highs. 

XRP Sees Four Major Developments In One Week

Despite experiencing four major developments in just one week, the XRP price has shown little reaction. Crypto market expert Chain Cartel has pointed out that while many traders focus on immediate price movements, Ripple Labs, the developer of XRP, is quietly building the infrastructure that could position it as a key system of record for digital settlements.

The analyst suggested that the market overlooks structural developments, underestimating their impact on long-term growth. He highlighted rumors of Ripple’s collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as one of this week’s major events, noting that the alleged partnership explores the use of Amazon Bedrock AI for the XRP Ledger (XRPL). 

With this integration, XRPL system logs that used to take days to process can be analyzed in just minutes. According to Cartel, this is not an “hype AI,” but a development focused on improving security and scalability, and on giving institutions better visibility into XRP. 

In his post, Cartel also highlighted Ripple’s regulatory progress in the UK. He announced that the UK subsidiary of the crypto company has not been registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, which is known as one of the world’s strictest financial regulators. He stressed that this approval is a significant milestone for Ripple, boosting its compliance credentials and international credibility. 

In addition to achieving even greater regulatory clarity, Cartel highlighted Ripple’s partnership with The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as another key development. BNY Mellon recently launched tokenized deposit services for institutional clients, and Ripple Prime, a digital asset prime brokerage platform created after Ripple acquired Hidden Road, is among the first users. Even more important, the analyst said that BNY Mellon remains the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD, showing a direct integration between traditional banking and digital settlement rails. 

Finally, Cartel mentioned the upcoming vote on the CLARITY Act by the US Senate Banking Committee scheduled for January 15. This bill will decide how crypto trading, settlements, and connections to financial systems are regulated in the future. The analyst said that if the bill is passed, it could affect how institutions interact with XRP and the broader crypto market. 

Why The XRP Price Is Still In A  Downtrend

Despite all these developments and milestones, Cartel noted that XRP’s price has barely moved over the week, still trading around $2.0. The analyst stated that the reason the cryptocurrency keeps moving lower is that it reacts less to hype and more to the completion of key infrastructure. 

According to Cartel, these developments are building significant pressure in the market. He described XRP’s situation as a compression before a violent release, suggesting that the cryptocurrency could experience a sharp price rally once the foundational systems are fully in place.