Well, the Ripple is indeed expanding over to the Middle East. On Monday (26), they made a strong deal with Jeel, which is the innovation arm of Riyad Bank — one of the big players in Saudi Arabia.

This arrangement aims to engage with advanced distributed ledger technology (DLT) to make payments faster and more efficient in the country.

And this is not just talk. The move aligns with the so-called 'Saudi Vision 2030' program, which aims to diversify the kingdom's economy and reduce dependence on oil, heavily investing in digitalization.

According to the statement, the deal will not remain just on paper. The companies want to get hands-on and create prototypes within an experimental regulatory environment, like a 'sandbox'.

In the beginning, the focus will be on three main points:

- speed in payments,

- institutional custody of digital assets,

- tokenization.

Jeel, on their official account on X, emphasized the importance of this partnership for the local ecosystem, always keeping an eye on regulatory aspects.

They stated: 'We announced at Jeel our partnership with Ripple to explore advanced applications, improve the speed and efficiency of payments, study use cases for the custody of digital assets, and develop prototypes in Jeel's experimental regulatory environment, in support of the objectives of #SaudiVision2030.'

Reece Merrick, who is an executive at Ripple in the Middle East and Africa, was very excited about the deal closed in Saudi Arabia. For him, this is a very important step for the financial future of the region.

He highlighted that the Saudis are getting ready to become a global reference in digital transformation.

On X, Merrick mentioned that they will explore some very specific areas of technology, including things related to storing crypto assets.

According to him: 'The visionary leadership of the Kingdom has positioned Saudi Arabia as a global hub for digital transformation. Together with Jeel, we will work on solutions for international payments, custody of digital assets, and tokenization, within the Vision 2030 agenda. I'm excited to help build the future of the country's financial infrastructure.'

The cryptocurrency community around the world received the news with enthusiasm, as it is another country showing support for the innovations in this technological universe.