Ripple News Update

Although Wall Street and Silicon Valley inhabit opposite ends of the country, leaders from both industries gather several times a year.

Yesterday’s Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference was one such rendezvous.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse was in attendance, and at one point, he sat down for an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang. (Source: “Ripple CEO Favors More Regulation of the Crypto Market,” Bloomberg, February 13, 2018.)

It was (as usual) stuffed with great insights about XRP, Ripple’s ecosystem, and the cryptocurrency market as a whole.




Ripple (XRP) Price Chart

I recommend you watch the interview in its entirety. However, for those of you in a rush—or in much need of analysis—I’ve listed three key takeaways below.

“The revolution of blockchain is not going to happen from outside the system.” This is a great quote from Garlinghouse. It emphasizes everything that makes XRP a unique asset, including the frankness of its chief executive. Garlinghouse goes on to explain that “governments aren’t going to go away, banks aren’t going to go away,” and so cryptocurrencies need to work within the existing system. XRP does that, he says. “I hope there’s more regulation.” Garlinghouse emphasized that Ripple already abides by know-your-client (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) rules, since it exists as a conduit between banks and payment providers. He insists, in other words, that XRP prices shouldn’t be affected by regulatory risk. Garlinghouse expects “more bullish behavior” from crypto investors in 2018. Volatility is here to stay, says Garlinghouse, but so is crypto optimism. He notes that in the original tech boom, institutional investors built up the hype and speculation, while retail investors came in as the second wave. This time is different. Retail investors are the dominant force in cryptocurrency investing, and the second wave—which is just beginning—is driven more by institutional players.

Garlinghouse has made similar comments in the past, but it’s refreshing to hear his long-term vision reiterated after January’s XRP price crash.

He reminds us that if you’re investing in XRP as opposed to trading it (yes, there’s a difference), you should consider thinking in months and years, not days.

Analyst Take

With this in mind, we feel comfortable with our $10.00 Ripple price prediction for 2018.