Ripple

The San Francisco-based Ripple, which launched in 2012, will use the funding to add personnel to its global organization and enrich its services that power payments using blockchain technology with its XRP platform.

Ripple isn't a part of Facebook's Libra. It's more likely to be a rival, and it must be careful to make sure that lawmakers see the distinction.

Nobody will be keen to go toe-to-toe with the Fed, which is the financial systems’ paramount regulator and central bank with virtually unlimited resources, says Intrepid Ventures' Eric Grover.

Ripple is collaborating with financial software company Finastra, boosting both companies' reach in the cross-border transaction market.

As cryptocurrency global payment options expand, Ripple wants to assure it stays at the forefront with its XRP token through the creation of a developer platform for third parties that will fuel new products using XRP.

PNC has gone live on RippleNet, giving the blockchain company a major win in its effort to build a real-time cross-border payments network that includes large U.S. banks.

MoneyGram International will use Ripple's blockchain to boost foreign exchange settlement for international payments.

The firm wants to expand its acceptance in the United States only to accommodate Chinese tourists, a company official said Thursday. But the CEO of a U.S.-based payments firm expressed skepticism.

Despite some significant advancements in the past two years, rifts are already developing in the U.S. move to faster payments.

JPMorgan's blockchain effort could lead to solutions that overcome industry skepticism and regulatory concerns and perhaps attract more mainstream retail interest.