IBM announced its plans to further expand its Stellar-based cross border payment system, World Wire.
In a recent interview with Fred Schebesta, cofounder at Finder and host of YouTube show The Daily Exchange, at the recent IBM Think 2019 conference, Jesse Lund (VP of Blockchain and Digital Currencies for IBM) talks about the scope of World Wire and makes some bold claims about digital bank currencies.
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In the interview, Lund:
- Says IBM has several “letters of intent” with major banks to release digital currencies.
- Claims World Wire will be supporting 50 countries out of the gate, ‘dragging along’ up to 40 banks.
- Hints at what he calls “a special announcement” of a partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation.
- When asked about IBM’s roadmap for World Wire, Lund said he’d be keynoting a major event in Singapore with Jed McCaleb.
You can find some quotes from the interview below and the full interview here:
Key quotes from James Lund:
5:00 [paraphrased]
“We’ve got a launch announcement coming out soon … let’s just say we’re gonna be supporting more than 50 countries out of the gate, 30-40 currencies, and enough market makers to drag along 30 or 40 banks, so we’ll have a significant portion of the world covered and our goal is to continue to expand that network and to provide global coverage within 3-5 years where you can actually send remittances in a consistent way, immediately, at a very low cost, from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world. “
1:36 & 9:33: Discussion of the XLM token and its use by IBM World Wire: “We see Lumens as a viable settlement instrument in this ecosystem of cross-border payments”
“In general it’s used as gas, it powers transactions… that’s one way it’s used.
[paraphrasing] “In World Wire, we use it as a settlement instrument between fiat currencies”
3:10 & 11:40: Discussing World Wire as a multi-currency platform to facilitate cross-border trade by relying on the Stellar network:
“It could be Lumens, it could be XRP even, or Bitcoin”
11:40: Discussing central bank digital currencies on World Wire:
“We have letters of intent with several banks around the world for digital currencies and stable coins”
