Looks like Ripple has patented On-Demand Liquidity for Foreign Exchange and cross-border payments. This is a big deal.

s/o @coys1969 https://uspto.report/patent/grant/10,902,416

The patented tech "is not limited to banking institutions or currencies, but may rather be implemented for any exchange of value (e.g., commodities, other digital currencies and assets, bonds, stocks, securities, etc.)."

Commodities, assets, bonds, stocks, securities. Huge.

"In certain implementations, when a transaction request is received from the sending client, the computing system can execute the transaction in seconds or fractions of a second."

Fractions of a second.

Basic concept:

1. Accept request for fiat->fiat
2. Lookup exchange rate
3. Convert to ODL (xrp)
4. Send xrp to destination
5. Convert to destination fiat

All within "seconds or fractions of a second".

For very large orders, the system can break up the orders into smaller "chunks", sending each chunk to separate exchanges for conversion to ODL before sending all chunks to final destination for conversion to the destination fiat.

To "avoid the exposure to volatility inherent in transacting through exchanges", clients can choose to use "digital client wallets holding a local pool of digital currency for each client" (3rd party or their own). So clients can have locked-up ODL (xrp) they use on their own.

Works w/desktop computers, smartphones, PDAs, laptops, tablets, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) devices, wearable computing, television (IP Television), custom hardware, in-vehicle devices, or on-board computers, etc.

All the devices, all the money.

Not just banks. "The sending users...and receiving users...can comprise clients of the transaction service...and can include individual users, businesses, households, charities, financial entities (e.g., local banks), and the like."

The system guarantees a fixed exchange rate by querying a variety of exchanges for quotes before performing the transaction, taking into account current or projected volatility.

Slight volatility/differences in the guaranteed exchange rate can be offset using client digital currency pools held at each of the participating exchanges.

"Accordingly, the nostro accounts of the institutions...may be eliminated and the balances therein may be deployed by the institutions...as they please." (the patent estimates this freeing $10 trillion USD for other purposes)

Transactions can be automatic or manual, with a user having a fixed time period (doc says 10 mins) to accept the exchange rate before it expires and a new quote has to be received.