A revision of “Why the Hot Cryptocurrency Ripple is Going Down in Flames.”

“Ripple allows everyone to participate in the global economy.” Everyone.

Ripple’s dramatic price increase— a staggering 33,000% over a one year time period — offers a stark reminder to investors and speculators: Not all news sources are the same.

The stratospheric rise of bitcoin over the past year has brought along a number of so-called “writers.” Many of these hobbyist bloggers claim to offer readers in-depth insight into advanced technology, like Bitcoin’s blockchain, even though they are personally benefiting from the Bitcoin/Ethereum crazed narrative they create.

But amid the broad sellout of journalists in recent months, XRP’s ascent has been nothing short of breathtaking. While the price has recently dropped after a sudden spike, it hasn’t caused anywhere near as much drama as the 234 obituaries hiding under Bitcoin’s belt.

Ripple’s token, XRP, which had been trading at around $0.006 this time last year, now hovers at around $2.00.

“There is limited upside in Ripple,” argued Alexander Kravets, a guy who has not known about cryptocurrency for a full year yet.

Why Is Ripple Rising?

Reason #1: Decentralization. Rather than naively view centralization/decentralization as binary, Ripple recognizes that decentralization can take many forms and likely resembles more of a spectrum than a dichotomy. “The view that something is either decentralized or centralized is harmful and draws attention away from what we should actually care about — to what extent particular systems have particular beneficial characteristics,” said David Schwartz, Chief Cryptographer at Ripple. Schwartz said making massive progress on decentralization in 2018 is his number one priority. Accordingly, Ripple recently released their Decentralization Strategy Update.

Reason #2: There was a change in how prices are calculated. The crypto exchange Coinmarketcap.com made a change this week, excluding many Korean exchanges from its price calculations. Previously, CMC did not reflect what U.S. holders could actually sell for, and that caused a lot of confusion. The new price is more accurate and meaningful.

Reason #3: XRP’s appeal to businesses is strengthening. After announcing that three of the top five money transfer companies worldwide will be implementing Ripple’s XRP token in their payment flow systems this year, Ripple and MoneyGram announced they had partnered.

“MoneyGram is the latest example of Ripple’s masterful cadence of announcements of deals with large companies,” said Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency fund of hedge funds BitBull Capital.

Oliver Isaacs, cryptocurrency investor and influencer, proclaimed that Ripple is “gaining momentum.” He spoke to the digital currency’s growing visibility, stating:

“Every cryptocurrency investor and hedge fund I have spoken to have asked me about Ripple’s potential in the market.”

.