Perplexity, a research AI resource, recently revealed Google’s initial investment in Ripple during the company’s early stages. This disclosure came in response to a query from Ashley Prosper, a member of the XRP community who sought information on potential partnerships between Ripple and major American technology and financial companies like Amazon and Google.
Initially, Prosper inquired about a possible partnership between Ripple and Amazon after reports confirmed that Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, had invested in Perplexity through his investment firm Bezos Expeditions. Perplexity suggested that a partnership between Ripple and Amazon could benefit Amazon by streamlining payment infrastructure, improving supply chain management, and expanding globally.
However, despite the potential benefits of such a partnership, there is no current partnership between Ripple and Amazon, and there are no indications of a future one. Previous reports erroneously suggested that Amazon was partnering with Ripple to utilize XRP for payments based on information from an Amazon AWS Partner Profile page highlighting Ripple’s use of Amazon’s AWS.
Following the inquiry about Amazon, Prosper recently asked Perplexity about Google’s investment in Ripple. Perplexity confirmed that Google had indeed invested in the payments company, adding to the list of major tech giants supporting Ripple. However, some community members remain skeptical of this revelation, especially newer members who were not present when the initial investment was announced.
Google’s investment in Ripple occurred during the company’s early years and helped to secure additional funding from global banking institutions, bringing the total funding to $93 million as of September 2016. Ripple had already partnered with 15 of the top 50 global banks at that time, demonstrating the company’s growing influence in the financial sector.
Despite the initial investment from Google, there have been no significant developments between Google and Ripple or the XRPL. Rumors suggested that Google was running an XRPL node, but these were debunked by The Crypto Basic. The only notable involvement of Google in the XRPL ecosystem was Google Cloud’s entry into the Flare Network as an infrastructure provider and contributor to the FTSO, showcasing the tech giant’s continued interest in innovative blockchain technologies.
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