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Bitcoin will soon be caught up by Ripple, the next cryptocurrency surging in price and taking on the market and the company’s CEO has revealed what makes the cryptocurrency so special. Speaking on NBC's Press:Here, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse said: “The reason why XRP is unique is, it settles in three seconds so I’m not taking risks on kind of volatile where bitcoin take hours.” XRP is the cryptocurrency that powers Ripple’s blockchain technology to send money across the world in real time settlements. Ripple has attracted tens of millions of dollars worth of investment leading to it being dubbed the bitcoin that banks like.

NBC NEWS•GETTY Bitcoin is facing stiff competition from rival Ripple

Bitcoin is not going to be the kind of panacea of all things blockchain we once thought it would be Brad Garlinghouse

Mr Garlinghouse said: “We’re about a thousand times faster than bitcoin and a thousand times cheaper than bitcoin to settle a transaction.” He also addressed the recent surge of interest in Ripple, attributing it to people looking beyond bitcoin for other cryptocurrency investments. The CEO said: “A lot for the speculation that’s gone on about XRP lately is people realising bitcoin is not going to be the kind of panacea of all things blockchain we once thought it would be. “Instead you’re having vertical specific. XRP is solving a payments problem and it’s very efficient to do that.”

Ripple also does not hold the level of anonymity that bitcoin does, which makes the currency more favourable to banks. Banks are taking notice of Ripple, with over 100 banks around the world using the blockchain, according to Mr Garlinghouse. He told CNBC: “We have over 100 banks working with Ripple today around the world. “I think the vast majority of banks, like 99.9 percent of banks actually are paying other banks, the global money sender banks like JP Morgan or Citibank to make those settlements.