Ripple or XRP is an intriguing cryptocurrency to say the least. ‘Provide a Better Alternative to Bitcoin’, that is the motto the XRP Ledger carries. Interestingly enough, Ripple came before Ethereum, and it was even among the top three most popular cryptocurrencies (the usual suspects, Bitcoin and Ethereum, being the other two). While it has lost some of that popularity, the bullish crypto market has gotten many excited for Ripple price prediction 2024.
Let’s dive into it, then. What is Ripple, what has its journey been like, and of course, price prediction of Ripple.
What is Ripple (XRP)?
Following the financial crisis of 2008, Bitcoin launched as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. If we simplify that, it’s simply that the idea of Bitcoin is to provide an alternative to fiat money- one that is decentralized (therefore not vulnerable to policies and bans created by a centralized authority figure) and not an easy victim to inflation (its upper cap of 21 million is an inherent anti-inflationary mechanism).
Many altcoins followed the OG, Ripple one of them. These projects had an idea to improve upon the Bitcoin use case. If we speak about Ripple or the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in particular, it is an open-source and permissionless platform like Bitcoin. Their primary goal is to improve cross-border transactions for financial organizations and other entities, including individuals.
The XRP Ledger brings a scalable infrastructure (with 1,500 transactions taking place per second), and low-cost (fees can be as little as $0.0002), high-speed (transactions take between 3 to 5 seconds for settlement), green (energy efficient and carbon neutral) transactions.
The journey of Ripple (XRP)
Here’s a quick run-through of milestones in Ripple’s journey:
- In 2011, David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto started developing the XRP Ledger, with the goal to create an asset and an adjacent network that simplify transactions.
- The XRP Ledger was launched in June 2012. A company named NewCoin was created to maintain the ledger in September 2012, which was subsequently renamed to OpenCoin and finally Ripple.
- On September 24, 2020, the XRPL Foundation was established as an independent, nonprofit organization that aims to boost the development and adoption of the XRP Ledger.
- Multiple years after its existence, XRP went for a bullish turn in April 2017, and what followed was a significant rally, leading it to an all-time high above $3 at the beginning of 2018. During this time, Ripple had the second-highest market cap for a period, right after Bitcoin.
- However, the decline that followed was notably devastating. As of the end of March 2024, Ripple is the sixth biggest crypto by market capitalization.
- The Ripple vs SEC case with its roots in 2020 brought Ripple into the limelight many times, leading to brief price rallies and subsequent falls. The SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) showed multiple grounds to sue Ripple, the most prominent being that Ripple executives held an IPO or initial public offering of XRP and sold XRP tokens to investors in the US and other parts of the world while it was an unregistered security. Further, Ripple allegedly offered billions of XRP in exchange for services like market-making and labor.
Ripple went against the SEC and claimed that the regulator had never notified the organization that Ripple was counted as a security.
On July 13, 2023, Ripple secured a partial victory against the SEC in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple in fact had not broken any law when XRP was sold through public exchanges. This counted as a significant win for the crypto industry in general, since crypto’s regulatory status has been unclear for a while, and having to operate in an industry without proper regulatory supervision has proven to be hard for most projects, not just Ripple.
This court ruling was followed by a sharp spike in Ripple’s value on July 14 and consecutive days, as you can see in the chart below:
And there was the historical journey of Ripple, with all significant events highlighted. Now, time for the price prediction of Ripple.
XRP price prediction 2024
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have come into play in the US, propelling Bitcoin to new heights. The rally is expected to receive another boost by the coming Bitcoin halving, which would in turn be helpful for Ripple.
Optimistic Ripple price prediction 2024 suggests a rally above $5 on the back of the Bitcoin halving. Further, Ripple price prediction 2025 suggests a further hike, given the bull market sustains itself.
The Ripple price prediction 2024 also relies on the final results of the ongoing legal battle of the project with the SEC. therefore, before you invest, do remember to check out all ongoing market events and make your decisions accordingly.
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