BankSocial's CEO John Wingate Met with Ripple Labs, Stirring up Chatters of an Integration

BankSocial's CEO, John Wingate, stirred up chatter this week by saying he met with Ripple's team. He called it "possibly the greatest meeting in the history of international settlements."

BankSocial's CEO, John Wingate, has been a busy bee. This week, he dropped a bombshell: he met with Ripple's team. And to hear him tell it, it was "possibly the greatest meeting in the history of international settlements."Naturally, that got everyone buzzing. Is BankSocial joining forces with Hedera, XRP and Ripple in a huge partnership? Well, not according to those three. So far, no one outside Wingate's inner circle has confirmed the deal just yet.

BankSocial Adds XRP To Roadmap

Now, according to reports, Wingate still sees HBAR as a major piece of BankSocial's plan. He'll be using Hederas Consensus Service for state checks and network messages. And to round it out, XRP comes into play for cross-border payments. So it seems like they're planning a dual-chain setup. HBAR will be handling the bulk of the workload with its smart contract platform, while XRP will step in to move money seamlessly between countries.

Three Tokens, Three Roles

According to Wingate, each token has its job. HBAR powers the Hedera Consensus Service for checking states and handling network messages. XRP moves cash across borders, especially into certain jurisdictions. BSL, BankSocial's own token, is for lending, staking and running its DAO. Short story: HBAR does the engine work, XRP moves the money, and BSL runs the bank's in-house features.

Billion-X Ambitions

In his post, Wingate challenged followers to "think BIG, then 1,000,000,000x it." He wants a massive network that links banks, blockchains and countries. A big ask, to be sure. It ties into a goal of tokenizing real-world assets and moving them without the usual delays or fees. If it pulls off, that could massively change how banks use blockchain tech in the long run. But on the topic of timelines or a proof of concept, he's keeping mum.

What Partnership Details Are Unconfirmed

On Friday, May 19, BankSocial replied to a teaser about its new platform with "Multichain. XRP too." This integration is still forthcoming, but the underlying system—built on Hedera—will add support for Ripple’s XRP Ledger. However, there hasn’t been an announcement from Ripple or Hedera about this partnership.

This partnership is still a rumor that is being publicized more than a formal pact. At the time of writing, developers and users haven’t seen a test network or demo of the system.

Earlier this year, in March, Wingate hinted at this two-chain plan. He also shared that BankSocial is working closely with banks and governments to facilitate asset tokenization and efficient cross-border cash movement. He named both XRP and HBAR as "major components" in their initiative and further disclosed that they are part of the DeRec Alliance. This group is dedicated to developing innovative and useful open finance tools.

Now, the market is eagerly awaiting further developments. If BankSocial manages to successfully implement a three-token setup as envisioned, it could unlock new possibilities for banks to directly handle crypto and stocks from customer accounts. Nonetheless, until the relevant code is released or a formal alliance is announced by both parties, this partnership remains a story in progress. As this story unfolds, we'll be sure to keep an eye on any new posts by Wingate and any updates from Ripple or Hedera.