Is Ripple The Next Bitcoin?

Bitcoin and Ether have been dominated headlines in the crypto world for much of 2017, except for the occasional article about smaller coins with insane value returns. It’s right for these two to share the spotlight (along with Bitcoin Cash, the Bitcoin spin-off that’s now #2 in total market capitalization among all crypto currencies and assets)—since together Bitcoin and Ether make up nearly 70% of the total market. Both, of course, have also had staggering growth in 2017.

But there’s evidence to suggest that both have hit their relative near-term ceiling, and as new investors flock to crypto. New coins will be looked at to be the “next” big risers. Ripple and Dash, two coins also in the top 10 in total market capitalization may just be those next coins.

The scenario is not that hard to imagine: if Bitcoin catches on as a form of worldwide value transfer (paper money) or as a backup to wealth (like gold or silver), blockchain technology-based coins can start to fill in other gaps. And that’s where a coin like Ripple fills in—ready to play its part in its own individual niche.

The best part though? Ripple can succeed with or without Bitcoin and Ether. It can succeed without mining technology or any changes in that, and it has a slew of big names behind it already. Ripple currently has around 10% of the market cap of Bitcoin, but could be the first cryptocoin used by big business since it seeks to disrupt a current financial service (money transfers and settlements) while Ether seeks to create a new one (smart contracts).

What’s more, too, is continued weakness stemming from regulation issues and market weakness has brought down the price of Bitcoin (and likely Ether and Bitcoin Cash as well), there have been no news of regulation with Ripple, but it has been hit hard.

What Is Ripple?

Ripple is the #5 most valued coin, and a price of about $1.15. Its current circulation is 38 billion coins. Its coins go by the symbol XRP.