Georgia Expands Partnership with Ripple to Digitize Its Economy

The recent partnership between Ripple and the National Bank of Georgia will focus on exploring potential collaboration in the digitalization of the country’s economy. 

San Francisco-based payments company Ripple has expanded its partnership with Georgia’s apex bank, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). The recent partnership aims to digitize Georgia’s economy and enhance financial technology in country. 

Ripple Exec Meets with NBG Officials 

This was disclosed in a weekend meeting featuring Ripple’s VP of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) James Wallis and two NBG officials. They include Natia Turnava, NBG’s acting governor, and another official from the bank, Varlam Ebanoidze. 

In addition, Alistair Brown, a representative of Ripple’s partner EPAM (Effective Programming for America) System, was also in attendance. The inclusion of EPAM System in the meeting highlights the importance of incorporating fintech solutions to drive the digital transformative initiative.  

As announced in a LinkedIn post on June 8, the agenda of the meeting was to explore opportunities for Georgia’s economic digitalization. 

Previous Partnership Between NBG and Ripple 

NBG said the recent collaboration expands upon the previous partnership between the parties, which occurred towards the end of 2023. 

At the time, The Crypto Basic reported that NBG selected Ripple out of nine shortlisted candidates as its technology partner for the digital Lari (GEL) pilot project. 

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Per the announcement, the pilot will leverage Ripple’s CBDC platform to plan and execute the digital Lari project. This move will allow the parties to test the CBDC technology across various sectors, including retail and business. 

Other Ripple CBDC Initiatives 

In addition to the National Bank of Georgia, Ripple has partnered with several central banks for the same project, including Palau, Bhutan, Montenegro, Colombia, and Hong Kong. 

Last year, Wallis disclosed that Ripple was discussing CBDC programs with over 20 countries. To further drive adoption, Ripple released a 23-page paper in December detailing the basics, attractiveness, risks, and barriers of CBDCs. 

NBG’s expansion of its partnership with Ripple suggests that the San Francisco-based payments company has made major progress in the digital Lari project.