Crypto, Blockchain, DLT

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Ripple - >>> It’s now easier than ever to buy ripple, but is it a sound investment?


Third-largest cryptocurrency enjoys strong performance this year


Dimitar Bogdanov

by Dimitar Bogdanov

Tuesday, 25 Jul 2017



http://invezz.com/news/forex/26595-Its-now-easier-than-ever-to-buy-ripple-but-is-it-a-sound-investment



It’s now easier than ever to buy ripple, but is it a sound investment?

San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple has grabbed investors’ attention lately, with its token XRP becoming available to a larger pool of investors and it distributed ledger technology gaining the backing of some major financial institutions. Due to a wider adoption on cryptocurrency exchanges, especially in Asia, it is now much easier for people to buy ripple (XRP). And while the token is still far less popular than bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH), it is one of the better alternatives to the current leaders in the crypto space.

Ripple’s aim is to provide decentralised transaction network for banks and financial institutions that is fast and scalable. According to the company’ website, the network can candle up to 1000 transactions per second, with payments settling in four seconds.

These features of ripple’s network have attracted the attention of some of the world’s largest banks. Ripple’s solution is already used by major players in the banking sector, such as Standard Chartered, Santander, UBS and UniCredit. In April the company announced the addition of 10 new customers to its global network, including MUFG, BBVA, SEB, Akbank, Axis Bank, YES BANK, SBI Remit, Cambridge Global Payments, Star One Credit Union and eZforex.com.

“The world’s largest banks have been the first to adopt Ripple’s technology, and the network effect from our customer base is accelerating,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said at the time.

Earlier this month, the company also announced that the XRP Ledger ecosystem has expanded to 55 validator nodes, an increase of 120 percent since May.

Unlike competing cryptocurrencies, the majority of XRP is owned by one company – Ripple itself. The startup owns 61 percent of the 100 billion existing ripples, but earlier this year decided to put 55 billion XRP in a cryptographically-secured escrow account by the end of 2017 and release up to 1 billion into the market every month. With this move the company aimed to alleviate any concerns regarding supply manipulations. Currently, Ripple holds a total of 6,662,260,753 XRP, while 38,332,289,584 XRP are in circulation on the market.

Ripple revealed last week that the second quarter of this year was “one of the most significant quarters to date for XRP markets”, pointing to a sharp rise of the XRP price and the token’s wider adoption. The company said that the cryptocoin finished Q2 at $0.263, posting a 3977-percent price increase in the first six months of the year.

While the price has cooled down in the last month, ripple (XRP) has cemented itself as the third-largest digital currency on the market, behind bitcoin and ethereum. Meanwhile, recent announcements have indicated that the Ripple network continues to expand.

The cryptocurrency is now traded on 30 exchanges worldwide. In its Q2 report the company noted this wider adoption has boosted trading volume, and especially fiat-for-XRP volumes. The main driver of the increase was the increased activity on South Korean Exchanges.

According to Coinmarketcap, ripple is now the fourth digital currency in terms of trading volume, behind bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin.

Given ripple’s performance so far this year and the growing interest from businesses and investors, the cryptocurrency presents an interesting investment opportunity. In addition, its low price makes it much more affordable to individual investors.

The ripple price has fallen 11.1 percent in the past 24 hours, amid a decline in the broader cryptocurrency market. As of 14:02 BST, XRP was trading at $0.172, according to data from Coinmarketcap.

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