Enterprise blockchain solution Ripple has joined the likes of 231 organizations who belong to the Hyperledger blockchain consortium.

Hosted by The Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open source group consisting of leaders in finance, banking, IoT, manufacturing, and technology that seeks to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. Other Finovate alum members of the group, which launched in 2015, include Tradeshift, AlphaPoint, BBVA, Blockchain, PWC, Sberbank, SecureKey, and Wipro.

After teaming up with NTT Data last year, Ripple and the Japanese system integration company submitted Hyperledger Quilt, a Java-based Interledger Protocol (ILP), to Hyperledger. Through the partnership with Hyperledger, said Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, “developers will be able to access Interledger Protocol in Java for enterprise use.” Thomas added that Hyperledger Quilt “connects Hyperledger blockchains with other ILP-capable payment systems such as XRP Ledger, Ethereum, Bitcoin (Lightning), Litecoin, Mojaloop, and RippleNet, helping us to deliver on our vision for an internet of value – where money moves as information does today.”

Ripple was among 14 companies to join the consortium last week. Hyperledger Executive Director Brian Behlendorf explained that this growth is beneficial to the future of the blockchain. “The accelerating pace of growth and adoption of Hyperledger across industries and geographies underscores the power of our community and the technologies it is building,” he said. “It also reflects a global awakening to the impact of blockchain for business.”

With more than 100 customers across the globe, Ripple has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. At FinovateSpring 2013, company co-founder Chris Larsen debuted Ripple (originally known as OpenCoin).

Last week, the company funded every project on DonorsChoose.org, a platform where school teachers crowdfund classroom needs and special projects. Ripple fulfilled all 35,647 open campaigns with a $29 million donation. Earlier in March, Ripple began piloting blockchain-based payments with FLEETCOR. The company was founded in 2012 and has since raised $93 million.

For all the buzz around blockchain technologies, few companies have seized the moment like Ripple. And this week, the enterprise blockchain solution provider announced a new partnership with FLEETCOR Technologies. The two firms will launch a pilot program to test the viability of Ripple’s digital asset XRP to improve the efficiency of international payments.

Cambridge Global Payments, the B2B international payments provider owned by FLEETCOR will execute the pilot, using XRP in payment flows through Ripple’s on-demand liquidity solution, XRapid. Cambridge processes more than $20 billion in cross-border, B2B payments each year for its 13,000 business customers. This newly-announced initiative adds to the work Cambridge and Ripple have already done together with the latter’s real-time messaging and transaction settlement for the enterprise solution, xCurrent.

“We are excited for the insights this pilot program is expected to deliver, and we will use that information to help both Cambridge and FLEETCOR develop our use case for blockchain in international payments,” Cambridge Global Payments COO Mark Frey said. Speaking for Ripple, Danny Aranda, Director of Business Development, praised Cambridge as a company that “understand(s) the benefits of digital assets and (is) serious about using XRP to overcome the inefficiencies in the global payment system.”

Making its Finovate debut at OpenCoin at FinovateSpring 2013, Ripple has been recognized as both a pioneer and a critical company in the bringing the benefits of distributed ledger technology to the enterprise. In recent months, the company has forged a wide variety of partnerships with FIs and financial services firms such as UAE Exchange, Banco Santander, and MoneyGram to help establish pilot programs and use cases for blockchain technology in areas ranging from international payment facilitation to the Internet of Things.

Ripple has raised more than $93 million in funding and includes IDG Capital Partners, SBI Investment, Core Innovation Capital, and Santander Innoventures among its investors. Both founder Larsen and current CEO Brad Garlinghouse were featured in Forbes.com’s article Prophets of Boom: Meet Crypto’s Richest, “a list of the richest secretive freaks, geeks, and visionaries” in the world of cryptocurrencies,” earlier this year. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California, with offices in New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore, and Sydney, Australia.

Is there anyone who still doubts that governments and financial institutions in the Middle East are committed to taking advantage of distributed ledger technology? If so, the announcement today that the UAE Exchange has joined Ripple’s RippleNet network is a reminder that when it comes to the blockchain: MENA means business.

“Incorporating Ripple’s blockchain technology into our payments systems will bring customers and enhanced, new payments experience,” UAE Exchange Group CEO Promoth Manghat said. “The early adoption of this game-changing technology allows us to offer a competitive service, as it will have an impact on the speed and cost of cross-border transactions. We are proud to deliver the future of payments with Ripple.”

Ripplenet is an enterprise blockchain network that features more than 100 participating banks and FIs. Via the network, members are able to conduct real-time messaging, clearing, and settlement of financial transactions for their banking and payment clients. In joining the network, UAE Exchange becomes the largest payment solutions provider in the Middle East to use Ripple’s technology for real-time, worldwide, payment processing.

“We choose to focus on solving inefficiencies in key corridors where payment flows are significant and growing,” Global Head of Infrastructure Innovation for Ripple, Dilip Rao said. “Adding a market leader like UAE Exchange to RippleNet will bring instant, certain, low-cost payments to the millions of retail customers in the UAE who send money abroad.”

Ripple and its technology have been gaining momentum along with the broader growth in interest in the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technology. Earlier this month, the company announced that Banco Santander would leverage its technology to offer same day mobile international payments. In January, Ripple launched a trial project with MoneyGram in which the remittance services specialist will use XRP through Ripple’s xRapid service and explore integration with Ripple’s API for businesses, xVia.

Founded in 1980, UAE Exchange has nearly 800 branches in 31 countries – with nearly 150 branches across the seven Emirates and 17 branches in Dubai metro stations. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE has more than 9,000 employees and more than 15 million customers worldwide using its remittance services.

Making its Finovate debut as OpenCoin at FinovateSpring 2013, Ripple currently has more than 100 customers around the world. The company’s digital asset XRP, available on more than 50 exchanges globally, is used by banks and payment providers to better enter new markets and keep costs low. With offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, Luxembourg, and Mumbai, Ripple has raised more than $90 million in funding, and counts Santander Innoventures, SBI Investment, IDG Capital Partners, and Core Innovation Capital among its investors.

Interested in fintech developments in the Middle East? FinovateMiddleEast comes to Dubai, UAE, February 26 and 27, for two days of keynotes, panel discussions, and live fintech demonstrations.