OH XRP. Ripple Company's version of cryptocurrency is starting to climb after a drop to below $1. It is currently at $1.60 at the time of writing and I am completely amazed with the comeback.
WHY? XRP is completely useless and has no bearing function.
Now the Ripple Company has one product that currently works, xCurrent, and it doesn't use XRP for it. I repeat it doesn't use XRP for it. They are in the process of coming out with xRapid(you can read about their products on their website), which does use XRP , but it is in the testing phase. Recently if I am not mistaken, MoneyGram is testing it out. In my opinion, with a volatility issue of XRP and currency exchanges I don't think its a viable option.
BUT XRP does something out of nothing- IT MAKES THE COMPANY RICH AS HELL
Basically the company created XRP as a tool to just make money. One day the company was like ok, we are tired of Series Funding and giving away a %, lets just create our own money.
Unlike Bitcoin, XRP was premined and centralized by the Ripple Company. The company owns a major of XRP and has the control to release it to the market whenever they want. Oh and their biggest supporter are BANKS BANKS BANKS. If you got into crypto because the of the decentralized community and belief in blockchain, well XRP will make you re-evaluate your life.
What really annoys me is their wallet, currently theres a minumiun that needs to be deposited. They have the ability to change that anytime and well with their close association to BANKS, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a maintenance fee in the future. So it cost money to have a XRP wallet.
It is as if Nakamoto premined the 21 million bitcoins, kept a bunch for himself and his friends, and decided when to release it to the market for the biggest profit.
So if XRP has no viable use to the company besides making money, what would happen if XRP crashes. For one thing, the company would be the one causing the crash, selling off all their XRP. The company itself will do just fine though.
In conclusion, XRP is best suited for the speculative investor. It is just a warning to those that think XRP is tied to some product or has a real purpose, well not yet at least. I am not saying it doesn't have potential to be tied to something or that it won't make an investor rich in the future as it has already done so. I am just laying out some facts regarding Ripple and XRP.
Your thoughts are always welcomed. This is my first post and I plan on posting more about the altcoins I think can really evolve in the future.