Ripple exploded in 2017 and here is why I believe the show isn’t over yet Since we are currently in the midst of a bearish season, many cryptocurrencies have taken a huge hit to their market capitalisation which has affected their prices. This does not necessarily mean that cryptocurrency is dead, especially a project like Ripple. The market always ebbs and flows and downtrends are expected, especially for new and emerging technologies which are subject to widespread speculation. Ripple/XRP The technology behind Ripple enables almost instant and almost free transactions. On top of this Ripple is partnered with over 100 banks across the world with UBS and Santander being two banks which currently use Ripple. Ripple/XRP Concerns There have been rumours about Ripple being centralized due to Ripple Labs holding a substantial amount of XRP, however this is not the case: The XRP is held in “escrow”, this means that Ripple does not actually hold the XRP themselves, it is stored on the blockchains ledger and will be released gradually due to the ledger mechanics. A certain amount of XRP will be released every month with an upper limit of 1 Billion XRP, this will be done over a period of 55 months. This was done to ensure that XRP has a predictable increase in circulating supply. For example many cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum do not have their entire supply in circulation, the rest need to be “mined”. With Ripple the coins are released instead since no miners are needed to support the network. Even if Ripple Labs failed as a company, XRP would still exist as a cryptocurrency. This further shows that XRP is decentralised since no single party or organisation controls it. Ripple/XRP’s Outlook In my opinion, Ripple is just getting started, furthermore Ripple’s price has already grown over 80 times since January 2017. It is only natural for it’s value to settle down during a correction. Ripple is also being added to more fiat (cash) exchanges, for example added Ripple as one of the cryptocurrencies they offer. If cash based exchanges are showing interest in a cryptocurrency that’s says a lot, especially during this bear market. CEX Final Thoughts Ripple/XRP still has room for growth, they have an impressive list of partners and the team behind this project are backed by venture capital, so it looks like many people have a vested interest in seeing Ripple succeed. If Ripple can pull off it’s goal of being the preferred money transfer system for banks across the world, then I can see Ripple at least maintaining it’s position as the third most valuable cryptocurrency.
