On November 25th, the Ripple XRP price continued the steady climb which it has been making since mid-July, to potentially stabilize at a 0.25 cents on the dollar. Of course, the current XRP price still pales in comparison to the value of other altcoins. Considering, however, that Ripple Coin essentially slumbered from December 2016 to April 2017, at $0,006, it has to be said that the centralized digital currency has made significant headway this year.

Of course, Ripple Coin itself sends shivers down the spine of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency enthusiasts, specifically because of the word, ‘centralization.’ As it is, though, Ripple (XRP) might just be the altcoin which serious investors start to fall a little bit more in love with in 2018.

Like it or not Ripple is Innovating

The Ripple blockchain was created in 2012, by and for the very fiat monetary system with digital currency offerings like Bitcoin ideally wish to supersede some day. However, to go so far as to say that the likes of Bitcoin and Ripple XRP plan to go to all-out war at some point, would be something of a misnomer. At present, in fact, Ripple is simply doing a lot the same of what coins like Nem are doing in the Far East.

Ripple has taken Bitcoin blockchain technology and created a Ripple blockchain which can reduce transaction infrastructure costs in traditional commerce. What is more, many big financial institutions are starting to take Ripple’s potential very seriously.

Ripple Net is already being used by large UK and US banks. In like regard, November 16th of this year saw American Express and Santander team, in order to start using the Ripple blockchain to facilitate faster international transaction processing.

Why Bitcoin & Other Altcoins Risk Losing Out to Ripple in the Long-Term

Given the increasing interest in Ripple XRP blockchain technology by leading financial institutions, Bitcoin and other digital currency offerings might want to start asking some very serious questions.

Yes, Bitcoin has made phenomenal gains this year. In reality, however, the huge gains which cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have made, haven’t been made due to people with money to invest, embracing the philosophical ideals of Bitcoin as decentralized alternative to fiat money.

When the cards are really put on the table, the majority of cryptocurrency investors don’t care about decentralization. Really they just want to put money into different digital assets, pass go at some point in the future, and collect their winnings. What is more, big money investors like those who Coinbase is currently attempting to attract with its new Custodial service, have so far avoided investing in digital assets, specifically because they are decentralized and unregulated.

Why Bitcoin is Starting to Lose the Decentralization Debate

It is because decentralization is so integral to the philosophy behind many digital assets, that Ripple is often looked upon disdainfully by hardcore digital currency enthusiasts. In reality, however, real cracks are starting to appear in the long-term argument for decentralization.

If a leading investment bank on Wall Street suddenly lost $300 million of investor cash due to a software glitch or hack like Etherum did at the start of this month, that bank would be mandated by law to compensate people affected. In like regard, with regulatory oversight, pump and dump schemes which are becoming more frequent and making trading digital assets more volatile by the day, simply wouldn’t be possible. (Not on the same scale at least.)

What Ripple XRP Offers That Other Digital Assets Don’t

In short, with every pump and dump, every Ethereum ICO fraud, and every Bitcoin scaling debate, digital currency offerings actually make themselves look less attractive in the long-term to many institutional investors. Ripple, on the other hand, starts to actually buoy ever more slightly in popularity.

Of course, people don’t want to invest in Ripple. People want to invest in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin which can promise them upwards of 700% returns in as little as 12-months. The only question is, will Ripple one day welcome an exodus of big league Bitcoin investors when such huge gains start to peter out? – Much more importantly, might this be why Ripple XRP was really created in the first place?



