Ripple’s native token XRP, at press time, was the sixth-largest cryptocurrency in the world. It was created in 2012 to enhance global financial transfers and the exchange of various currencies. XRP operates on the decentralized, open-source XRP ledger, and transactions are facilitated by the Ripple transaction protocol. With a pre-mined token supply of 100 billion, XRP is unique compared to other cryptocurrencies.
In 2017 and early 2018, XRP reached an all-time high of $3.40, marking a 51,709% increase from its original price at the beginning of that year. Although it has since declined, XRP remains a significant player in the cryptocurrency market and is consistently ranked among the top ten coins in terms of market capitalization. The team behind XRP and Ripple continues to work on the development of the XRP ledger and its potential use cases in the global financial system. Overall, XRP remains a significant and influential cryptocurrency in the world of finance and technology.
Read Price Prediction for XRP for 2023-24
The XRP ledger uses distributed ledger technology, which is different from the more commonly used blockchain technology. This technology allows bank and non-bank actors to incorporate the Ripple protocol into their own systems, as the protocol is completely open and accessible to anyone without prior approval from Ripple Labs.
In 2017 and early 2018, XRP reached an all-time high of $3.40, marking a 51,709% increase from its original price at the beginning of that year. Although it has since declined, XRP remains a significant player in the cryptocurrency market and is consistently ranked among the top ten coins in terms of market capitalization. The team behind XRP and Ripple continue to work on the development of the XRP ledger and its potential use cases in the global financial system. Overall, XRP remains a significant and influential cryptocurrency in the world of finance and technology.
In 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple, alleging that the company sold $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through its XRP cryptocurrency. Ripple denies the allegations, claiming that XRP is not a security and does not meet the criteria for the Howey Test.
A report by CoinShares indicated that investors are confident of Ripple’s victory in the landmark case against the SEC. This is based on the fact that XRP investment products have seen consistent inflows for three consecutive weeks.
On the business front, Ripple revealed key developments pertaining to its European expansion. The company shared its progress with Paris- based Lemonway and Xbaht in Sweden. Businesses in France and Sweden will now be able to leverage Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL).
On 15 November, Ripple announced that it partnered with MFS Africa, a leading fintech firm with the largest mobile money footprint in the continent. This joint venture seeks to streamline mobile payments for users in 35 countries.
In other news, Ripple CTO David Schwartz took to Twitter to offer former employees of the troubled crypto exchange FTX, a place at Ripple. However, this offer only stands for employees who were not involved with compliance, finance, or business ethics.
About the platform
Ripple’s tie-up with Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank in 2017 was a major milestone. Following the same, it became the second-largest crypto by market capitalization for a brief period. A year later, Ripple was in the news again for its partnership with international banking conglomerate Santander Group for an app focusing on cross-border transactions.
In terms of rivals, Ripple has close to none at the moment. They are the leading crypto firm catering to financial institutions around the world. As the number of partnerships grows, XRP will reap the benefits. After all, it is the medium of exchange for all cross-border transactions enabled by RippleNet.
Ripple has been capitalizing on the need for quick transactions and another untapped potential in emerging economies, given that nations in Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions are more likely to realize the value of blockchain and its tokens compared to their first-world counterparts. With the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), it is likely that developing countries looking to explore this option will go for Ripple since it already offers a well-established cross-border framework. Increased adoption of CBDCs will also lead to banking institutions considering integrating crypto into their services. This will work out very well for Ripple since RippleNet is already associated with a number of banks.
Blockchain solutions being offered to Ripple’s Central Bank partners wanting to venture into CBDCs include the option to leverage the XRP ledger using a private sidechain.
Ripple is predicted to develop rapidly over the forecast period, as it can be used for a variety of functions like accounting, investment, smart contract implementation, and decentralized programming.
XRP has an edge over its rivals due to its low cost of entry. The fact that a few dollars will buy tens of XRP seems appealing to new investors, especially those who prefer little investment.
According to a Valuates report, the cryptocurrency market’s size is expected to hit $4.94 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.8%. A number of crypto-firms will benefit from this, Ripple among them.
The growth in the cryptocurrency market is spurred by an increase in the demand for operational efficiency and transparency in financial payment systems, as well as an increase in demand for remittances in developing nations.
The general idea is that RippleNet’s adoption by financial institutions will increase, leading to more recognition of the platform as well as its native token. This has also been factored in while calculating predictions for 2025 and beyond.
At press time, XRP was trading at $0.37740 with buy pressure exceeding the selling pressure.
Source: XRP/USD on TradingView
XRP’s press time price was a far cry from its all-time high of $3.84 in January 2018. As a matter of fact, its price was closer to its launch price than its all-time high.
Although XRP gained somewhat over the last 3 months, its recent returns have investors worried.
SEC lawsuit and its impact
On 22 December 2020, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs. The lawsuit alleged that Ripple had raised $1.3 billion through the sale of ‘unregistered securities’ (XRP). In addition to this, the SEC also brought charges against Ripple’s top executives, Christian Larsen (Co-founder) and Brad Garlinghouse (CEO), citing that they had made personal gains totaling $600 million in the process.
The SEC argued that XRP should be considered security rather than a cryptocurrency and as such, should be under their purview.
A verdict in favor of the SEC will set a rather unpleasant legal precedent for the broader crypto market. This is why this case is being closely observed by stakeholders in the industry.
It is evident that developments in the lawsuit have a direct impact on XRP’s price. Following the news of the lawsuit in 2020, XRP tanked by almost 25%. In April 2021, the judge handed Ripple a small victory by granting them access to SEC’s internal documents, which caused XRP to rise over the $1-mark – A threshold that the crypto hadn’t crossed in 3 years.
According to a tweet by Defense Attorney James Filan on 15 August 2022, the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York dealt yet another blow to the SEC when Judge Sarah Netburn granted Ripple’s motion to serve subpoenas to obtain a set of video recordings for the purpose of authentication, dismissing the regulators claim that Ripple was trying to reopen discovery. This was in response to Ripple’s motion filed on 3 August 2022.
In the Opinion & Order published earlier in July, Judge Sarah Netburn condemned the SEC for its “hypocrisy” and actions which suggested that the regulator was “adopting its litigation positions to further its desired goal, and not out of a faithful allegiance to the law.”
The lawsuit’s verdict, whatever it is, will have a lasting impact on XRP’s value. It is important to note that a verdict in favor of the SEC would make XRP security only in the U.S because the regulator does not have jurisdiction across the country’s borders. This should offset some of the damage to Ripple, given that it has a substantial amount of business globally
Carol Alexander, Professor of Finance at the University of Sussex, believes that XRP is unlike any other crypto. She believes that if Ripple manages to beat the SEC lawsuit, it could start taking on the SWIFT banking system. SWIFT is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions.
In an interview with CNBC, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse talked about the possibility of an IPO after the case with the SEC is resolved. Ripple going public will have a significant impact on XRP’s price action in the following years.
In an interview with Axios at Collision 2022, Garlinghouse further stated that…
Read More: Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction 2025-2030: What’s in store for XRP?
