2017 was quite a year for cryptocurrencies. Digital currencies today are definitely becoming mainstream. In fact, Bitcoin has reached almost $20,000 at one point. But while cryptocurrency investors are taking a closer look at Ethereum, Litecoin, and even Bitcoin Cash, what they don’t notice is that Ripple has slowly gained momentum this year as well.
Ripple has a valuation of $85.2 billion surpassing Ethereum in the process. Recently, Ripple has been trading at $2.20 per coin which is up by more than 20% from its price 24 hours before that. On the other hand, you can purchase a single Ethereum at $687.96.
As for Bitcoin, its worth continues to slide down to $12,781.07 which is down 11.4% in just 24 hours. Bitcoin has continuously dropped since December 27. However, looking at its price fluctuation, it was even worse with almost a 54% drop coming from its highest at $19,661.63.
Ripple’s ascension among prominent digital currencies is somewhat sudden. Unlike Bitcoin that has been consistent not only this year, Ripple’s price increase came in spurts. It has spiked in June 2017 and the other one around 2 weeks ago.
One probable reason responsible for Ripple’s price increase is the news that Japan and South Korean firms are testing Ripple for its cross-border payment transactions.
Ripple is specialized in helping companies looking for a more efficient and cheaper option when it comes to these said transactions. Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Rupple, mentioned that top banks usually control liquidity in world markets from businesses to retails. As a result, it produces delays when it comes to clearing transactions.
Garlinghouse also mentioned that “we live in the age of the internet and we should be able to move our money in real time”.
It seems that Ripple has also convinced many Asian investors with what they are offering based on the increased trading volumes mainly found in Asian exchanges.
At 03:17 UTC, Ripple has reached its all-time high at $3.04. There were four Asian exchanges that were responsible for more than half (52.07%) of the trading using this cryptocurrency. In addition to this, it is also worth mentioning that Ripple has also extended its influence in US-based exchanges. Mainly, these are exchanges offering BTC/Ripple conversion.
There are a lot of investors becoming worried about Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies. Is it a bubble waiting to burst? However, despite being down, it has not really taken a backseat against the other cryptocurrencies even experiencing a sharp decline after reaching its high.
A lot of experts still believe that Bitcoin is still a better digital currency especially if you are planning to maintain a “long-term” cryptocurrency portfolio. There are also opinions regarding the possibility of Bitcoin reaching $60,000. However, experts also warned about the possibility of a decline even to the point of bringing Bitcoin back to $5,000.
At the end of the day, Ripple is still quite new with only a record of bullish trends coming in spurts. On the other hand, Bitcoin has years’ worth of track record despite suffering losses over the past few weeks.
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