Ripple's XRP price has gone up more than 28,000% in 2017. Can this growth keep going?
Over the last 24 hours Ripple's XRP price has gone through the roof, hitting over US$2 for the first time and reaching US$2.50 temporarily. Over the month of December, this has gone up over 450%. There's also building evidence that Ripple will arrive on major exchange Coinbase in the coming weeks.
As a result, Ripple's market cap is now sitting at US$95 billion, over US$20 billion more than the market cap of Ethereum, making it the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market value.
Why Ripple could keep growing
The technology is solid
Ripple can process transactions much faster and cheaper than the likes of bitcoin, with the ability to process 1500 transactions per second compared to bitcoin's 7 per second. This translates to single transactions taking seconds, compared to those on the bitcoin network which can take up to an hour to process.
What Ripple opens up for banks and global trading could be huge. Ripple acts as a kind of middle man liquidity solution in transactions and allows two different sets of currencies and values to be traded. This could mean someone looking to send US dollars to another country and turn it into the local currency could do that in near-real-time with minimal transaction costs.
Ripple is being pushed as the potential replacement to the old SWIFT system which is currently used by banks for international transactions. Currently SWIFT processes around US$5 trillion per day. With its faster transfer times and much lower fees, Ripple has a chance to take over that role.
Ripple has big global partnerships
In the USA Ripple announced in late November a partnership with American Express, opening up American Express’ business customers on its FXIP platform to route payments through Ripple’s blockchain network. Ripple added XRP will be used with American Express to speed up payments "later on". This partnership also links with UK bank Santander to allow instant US to UK payments.
SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between Ripple and Japanese financial service company SBI Holdings, announced earlier this week that it is creating a consortium to look into the role distributed ledger technologies such as Ripple can play in card payments. This consortium has already developed technology which enables payments through Ripple using phone numbers or QR codes.
Asian businesses are going nuts over it too, with 75 large groups already signed up to support Ripple. 15 of the world's top 50 banks have also worked with Ripple in some form.
Ripple is run like a proper company with a good team
Ripple Labs, the San-Francisco based company behind XRP, has been around since 2012, developing its blockchain-based technology well before it exploded and get rich quick coins started popping up everywhere.
Since it launched, Ripple has raised almost US$100 million in funding, and now has over 135 employees.
Ripple's executive team is well-respected in the tech industry, and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse is a former CEO of file sharing service Hightail, and was a senior VP at Yahoo for 5 years.
It has started to hit the mainstream
Following its huge growth in December, Ripple has started to hit the mainstream press, bringing more investor attention to the currency. The fact that it is now the second biggest currency by value behind bitcoin now should see this continue to grow even further.
There have also been rumours lately that popular crypto broker Coinbase is looking to add Ripple as an option. When Coinbase added Bitcoin Cash earlier this month, the price for BCH spiked 64% in one day.
The increased popularity of bitcoin itself will help a following on affect as more people start to look for alternative currencies to invest in, and with Ripple now sitting at the number two spot, it should see a lot of follow-on investment.
Could Ripple go as high as bitcoin?
Ripple has set itself up for a potentially massive 2018. Its price has already reached the US$2 mark, after sitting at just US$0.22 in November, a feat many analysts didn't think would happen until at least the middle of next year.
If Coinbase and other mainstream cryptocurrency brokers pick up the XRP, we could continue to see the price rise at a decent pace. Likewise, if more banks continue to partner with Ripple for international transactions and it starts to take over from SWIFT it could spike even further. If the right partnerships are made and banks continue to adopt the technology, it could reach US$5, US$10 or even US$20 by the end of next year. However that all depends on its partnerships.
Ripple will likely never reach the same price for an individual XRP token as a single BTC due to the 40 billion XRP tokens currently in circulation compared to the 21 million for BTC. However, if the rate of growth continues for Ripple, it's total market cap could easily surpass that of bitcoin.
Ripple's current market cap sits at roughly US$96 billion, while bitcoin is sitting at US$226 billion.
If you're interested in getting involved in Ripple check out our guide.
Today's Ripple price
1
0
Disclaimer:
This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider,
service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and
involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance
is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own
circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information. You should also verify
the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements)
and consult the relevant Regulators' websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We compare from a wide set of banks, insurers and product issuers. We value our editorial independence and follow editorial guidelines.
finder.com.au has access to track details from the product issuers listed on our sites. Although we provide information on the products offered by a wide range of issuers, we don't cover every available product or service.
Please note that the information published on our site should not be construed as personal advice and does not consider your personal needs and circumstances. While our site will provide you with factual information and general advice to help you make better decisions, it isn't a substitute for professional advice. You should consider whether the products or services featured on our site are appropriate for your needs. If you're unsure about anything, seek professional advice before you apply for any product or commit to any plan.
Products marked as 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money here.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labelling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance. Acceptance by insurance companies is based on things like occupation, health and lifestyle. By providing you with the ability to apply for a credit card or loan, we are not guaranteeing that your application will be approved. Your application for credit products is subject to the Provider's terms and conditions as well as their application and lending criteria.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
