Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today

Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates free of any government or bank control. Instead, this digital currency relies on peer-to-peer cryptography and software. However, a public ledger records all the bitcoin transactions and copies.

On the other hand, Ripple is a global payments network with financial services and significant banks as its customers. It is a product used to facilitate quick conversion between different currencies.

Ripple is an excellent alternative to SWIFT payments. That is because it is much faster, cheaper, and delivers an easy way of exchanging currency and sending money across borders.

Bitcoin, however, is only a digital currency that involves no regulatory authorities and third parties. There is no one controlling its demand and supply. This post will highlight the main differences between XRP and bitcoin, the current prices of XRP, and the Ripple price prediction.

Is XRP a good investment?

XRP is a creation of Ripple. It is a cryptocurrency that facilitates liquidity for any cross-border transactions. This year alone, the token has gone up by nearly 400%. Conversely, XRP is a good investment, but it is experiencing some challenges right now.

Learning about cryptocurrency can be compared to learning a new language when one is new. Even for an experienced investor, it can be challenging. Many people have only heard about two major digital currencies, ethereum and bitcoin.

Many do not yet know about XRP. It is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency and has a market cap of nearly $53 billion. The XRP token performed well on the international scene and was up by about 410% in 2020. In the previous year, it was up by about 349%.

However, currently, there are two significant developments on XRP that might affect its growth, so you should be wary.

They are:

• Ripple is being sued by SEC

Ripple developed XRP, and it subsequently runs the platform called RippleNet, which hosts cross-border transactions. In 2019, Ripple purchased a 30% stake in MoneyGram International, a money transfer company.

It was meant to be a two-year deal that would see Ripple become a business partner with MoneyGram to facilitate better money transaction services using digital assets.

However, the partnership came to a halt in March 2021. That was brought about by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged Ripple with generating over $1.3 billion in unregistered securities with the aid of XRP, a digital asset.

However, Ripple and MoneyGram did not clearly state whether the lawsuit occasioned the end of their partnership. Towards the end of 2021, the suit is still ongoing. Ripple, in its defence, states that XRP is only a digital currency like Ether or Bitcoin and is not an asset; hence the complaint is null.

• There is a new competitor, Swift Go.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) launched Swift Go's current service. This service is made to compete with Ripple for faster transactions. Before Ripple unveiled the RippleNet platform, many banks used SWIFT to carry out cross-border interbank transactions.

The transactions were slow as they could take anywhere between 30 minutes and a full day.

However, Ripple developed the RippleNet platform, making transactions from as little as 0.00001 seconds. It was also cheaper than the traditional way, SWIFT.

The new Swift Go matches RippleNet's speed. However, RippleNet has an advantageous edge. Although the transactions are almost instant, the settlement takes a day or more to happen on SWIFT Go. Additionally, SWIFT Go charges a more considerable amount in transaction fees.

Cryptocurrency comparison 2022: Bitcoin vs. Ripple

There are several differences between these two digital currencies. They are discussed below.

Bitcoin was initially developed to act as a decentralized currency. It had the sole aim of paying for goods and services. On the other hand, XRP was developed to be utilized by banks and other payment networks. It is a mode of payment settlement, currency exchange, and money transfer.

XRP's main objective was to form the baseline for a reliable system of direct asset transfers recorded in real-time. Subsequently, it would offer a more transparent, secure, and cheaper alternative to the current payment transfer methods. Bitcoin is a network that some developers maintain.

All the developers contribute to the network voluntarily. Hence, no government entity regulates. Satoshi Nakamoto created it.

Another difference is that the XRP Ledger functions on an exclusive consensus algorithm that utilizes a validation server network. Here, transaction speeds are much faster as one transaction could only take 3-5 seconds. Therefore, it is faster than any other cryptocurrency.

Another significant difference is that XRP is not mined. While Bitcoin is mined, the miners are rewarded with a newly created Bitcoin; XRP has 100 billion pre-mined tokens. Out of this 100 billion, 38 billion have been made available to the public. The remaining amount is held by Ripple and is released occasionally.

Bitcoin vs other Cryptocurrencies chart (XRP)

This table shows the major difference between bitcoin and cryptocurrency. XRP in this case

The latest Ripple news, 2021

• The Republic of Palau has partnered with Ripple to aid in developing its digital currency. This partnership will see a US Dollar-backed digital currency development that will help in cross-border payments for the country. This project could see the development of the first government-regulated stable coin. Ripple will, however, only provide the Republic of Palau with technical support, policy, and a design interface.

• The Ripple case with SEC will likely conclude in 2022. According to the CEO, Braid Garlinghouse, despite a slow judicial process, he confidently predicted that the case would most likely conclude in 2022. Garlinghouse believes that the judge is asking all the right questions, and he sees that there will be broader implications, not just to Ripple.

• Ripple CTO David Schwartz predicts that the NFT market will broaden. Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) have dominated the crypto market in 2021. There have been sales exceeding $2.5 billion in 2021. Hence, in 2022, the market will broaden mainly because of the rise of the Metaverse.

What affects the ripple price?

Ripple is mainly used across Southeast Asia. It is a region filled with splintered payments and has its state-issued cryptocurrency. This makes any cross-border payments that much easier. This specific region mainly determines price spikes.

For instance, in 2019, XRP spiked after South Korea and Japan started testing it in order to reduce costs and time spent making international payments between the two nations.

Also, in 2021 March, Ripple acquired 40% of all Malaysian cross-border payments. This would enable it to meet the rising demand in Southeast Asia.

What is the Ripple price prediction?

Ripple price reached an all-time high in 2021 but had not achieved this much success since 2017. This makes Ripple digital coin different from other cryptocurrencies. In 2020, after the lawsuit by SEC, Ripple prices dropped from 0.70 USD to 0.20 USD.

However, in 2021, it has regained its former glory and is doing relatively better than other cryptocurrencies.

The forecast suggests that Ripple is trending in the right direction. From Digital Coin's analysis, findings indicate that by 2022, Ripple will attain a total of $2.17 and $3.94 by 2025. The further forecast suggests that it could hit $4.46 by 2026. Therefore, Ripple is headed in the right direction.

Hence, if you are thinking of investing in this cryptocurrency, it is probably a great idea because, from the statistics, the sky is only the limit for Ripple's XRP.

Putting it together

Ripple is an excellent alternative to SWIFT payments because it is much faster, cheaper, and delivers an easy way of exchanging currency and sending money across borders.

Bitcoin, however, is only a digital currency that involves no regulatory authorities and third parties. There are also other significant differences stated in this post. After the lawsuit is over, investing in Ripple is probably a good idea because, from the statistics, the future is looking bright.

Therefore, take the bold move and invest in cryptocurrency today. XRP is a great place to start.

Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly