In the final ten days of 2017, ripple surged first to $1 and then to $2, climbing to second place by market capitalization. XRP began the new year with a market cap of $91 billion, trailing only bitcoin and substantially ahead of ethereum. Will investing in ripple in 2018 be the deal of the year? Could last year’s breakout become 2018’s crypto surprise?
According to Ripple’s 2017 insights, there are five reasons why buying ripple in 2018 could be a solid investment. It’s also worth noting that the exchange Coinbase was expected to begin supporting XRP purchases on its platform from January 8, 2018.
1) More than 50 digital asset exchanges list Ripple in 2018
In May 2017, Ripple entered a commercial partnership with BitGo, a provider of blockchain-based digital asset technology for exchanges. Thanks to that partnership, by the end of 2017 roughly 50 digital asset exchanges had added XRP to their listings.
When a cryptocurrency is listed on multiple exchanges, it becomes easier to trade and more accessible to investors who want to buy it. At the same time, multiple listing points provide reassurance to holders because they have several venues to sell XRP when they choose.
2) Ripple’s involvement in the Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force
In 2015, the U.S. Federal Reserve created a Faster Payments Task Force that included about 320 banks, regulators, and technology companies to study faster payment systems for the United States.
Ryan Zagone, head of Ripple Lab’s business development team, was selected by the Federal Reserve to serve on the Steering Committee representing technology companies and to share the lab’s blockchain expertise. After two years of work, Ripple’s approach was considered a viable solution to help address the faster payments challenge in the U.S.
3) The first global community gathering: Swell
Swell was Ripple’s first global community conference, held October 16–18, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. It provided an opportunity to assess the health and momentum of the Ripple ecosystem. Notable participants included former Federal Reserve chairman Dr. Ben Bernanke and World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
4) Ripple creates a 55 billion XRP escrow
In May 2017, Ripple announced plans to place 55 billion XRP into escrow by year’s end. The escrow was intended to reassure investors that Ripple had no intention of manipulating the market by dumping its holdings. The move aimed to alleviate concerns that the company could sell significant XRP amounts at any time, thereby devaluing the token.
By the end of December 2017, the escrow was established with 55 contracts of 1 billion XRP each. Each contract is time-locked and scheduled to expire on the first day of each month, from month 0 through month 54. Each month, XRP released from escrow can be used to incentivize market makers and support broader adoption. Any XRP not spent in a given month is returned to escrow and becomes available again after month 55.
5) Over 100 financial institutions support RippleNet
By the end of 2017, more than 100 banks and international financial institutions had joined or supported RippleNet. Several well-known banking groups, including those active in Italy like Crédit Agricole, were involved. Banks participating in the R3 consortium, among them Intesa Sanpaolo, were also running pilot projects to evaluate Ripple’s technology and its potential benefits for the banking system.
Investing in Ripple 2018 — the rumors
Market rumors suggested that Coinbase was preparing to add ripple to its listings. If that happened, it could lead to further price appreciation for XRP. The widely noted date was January 8.
If you planned to buy ripple on Coinbase, some referral programs were offering bonuses—check the platform’s current promotions for details.
Keep following the news section to stay updated on Ripple-related events and developments in 2018.