As the world watches the volatile crypto-race with bated breath, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) are bounding ahead this week with a dramatic bullish run. The race has not been smooth sailing though, as it’s been packed with enough explosive highs and lows to set the media world alight. However, Ripple has managed to steal the limelight and is raging through the headlines right now.

From CoinWatch data platform, we can see that Ripple has attracted a substantial amount of media hype over the last week, with a very bullish 31 positive articles versus 1 negative story. Similarly, over the past week Ripple soared to $0.85, up from $0.79, which translates to a 6.67% jump in value. Ripple is still fluctuating but is on an uptrend and hovering around the resistance level of $0.90. With an overwhelmingly bullish news sentiment, we scoured the top stories to find out why Ripple is making such a ripple in the media right now.

Ripple Partners With Financial Heavyweights

Hot on the heels of recent alliances with SAMA (TSXV:SME), Western Union (WU), and MoneyGram (MGI), Ripple has now added new alliances with FairFX (UK); RationalFX (UK), Exchange4Free (UK), UniPay (Georgia) and Money Match (Malaysia).

The Global Coin Watch reported that ‘due to XRP’s smart payment solutions, new companies are making effort to engage in lucrative partnerships with this currency.’ These newfound additions will use the xVia platform, which according to the website is ‘for corporates, payment providers and banks who want to seamlessly send payments globally across various networks using a standard interface.’

In a similar thread, Corey Johnson, Ripple’s Chief Marketing Officer leaked news that Santander will soon announce its plan to use the Ripple Platform to process its financial transactions. It was previously reported that Santander would use xCurrent for its One Pay FX app, but Johnson confirmed in an “Ask Me Anything” session that Santander will also use the xRapid platform.

On the back of these announcements, Koinex has just added Ripple to their mobile and web platforms to allow ‘crypto-crypto trading at zero cost.’ Rahul Raj, its Co-Founder and CEO announced, ‘many of our traders expressed interest for a crypto-to-crypto trading corridor’ and ‘we agreed on this’ to ‘offer ‘seamless trading, and many more such surprises are in the pipeline, to enthrall our users.’

Plus Ripple has added a new bank to its belt, namely BankDhofar, an Oman-based financial institution. The bank will be moving to RippleNet, its global enterprise blockchain network. BankDhofar chief information officer Dr. Tariq Taha said the addition of Ripple’s blockchain technology will ‘save its customers both time and money when sending remittances overseas.’ This will enable ‘instant, frictionless and secure cross-border money transfers within seconds, with end-to-end visibility over the journey of the payment.’

It remains to be seen if the bank taps Ripple’s xCurrent, an enterprise blockchain software that enables end-to-end tracking of payments and instant settlements globally. An alternative is Ripple’s xRapid product which uses Ripple’s token cryptocurrency XRP to bring real-time liquidity for international transactions. So far BankDhofar has not revealed any details of the product it will be using.

Ripple Defends Digital Currencies at a UK parliament hearing

Ripple management have just attended a heated UK parliament hearing on Digital Currency. Ripple was present to defend the benefits of blockchain and digital currencies to the panel, and the subject was a hotbed of debate.

Ryan Zagone, Director of Regulatory Relations at Ripple, championed how digital currencies ‘can better the transparency and efficiency of cross-border payments specifically between banks.’ Zagone reinforced that ‘this will generate cost savings up to 60%’ and ‘the capability for money transfer is a core benefit of the technology.’ He also pitched to the panel about a pilot project to use XRP as a ‘bridge between two currencies such as the Peso and the Yen in an international transaction’.

However, Martin Walker, the Director for Banking and Finance at the Centre for Evidence-based Management grilled Ripple and questioned its role as an interbank payment service since it’s still extremley volatile. Walker laid into Blockchain, calling it ‘a fad and a distraction from real innovation in the banking sector’ and cited the ‘difficulty of tracking’ payments as an area of concern.

The only consensus from the panel was that the ‘blockchain in industry and cryptocurrencies have a great difference.’ However, Ripple did make a strong case in Parliament, highlighting how crypto is already making an impact in the financial and political world.

Ripple’s Bullish News Sentiment

As Ripple’s value somersaulted, many crypto-enthusiasts were captivated by the drama, analyzing the factors behind it and trying to forecast the altcoin’s future. The fluctuating value is reflected in the density of media speculation. This has essentially created a ripple-effect. Now we’re not sure what came first, the speculation or the fluctuating price, but we can see a strong pattern between news sentiment and Ripple’s value. The increase in bullish news sentiment has thrust Ripple into the media spotlight, bolstering its credibility.

For example, the Global Coin Report states that ‘Ripple has always been preferred by a group of traders because of its risk-free and stable nature. With the new partnerships and globally renowned organizations as their customers, Ripple’s blockchain system is likely to provide even more efficient and flawless transaction system to their holders. If the Q1 and Q2 are just mere indications for what the future holds for this coin, current XRP holders can surely be hopeful.

Article written by Jenny Lynton

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.