Ripple in 2018!?

In 2018 Ripple is as much a household name in the cryptocurrency community as Bitcoin. On December 1, 2017, Ripple was trading for under $0.25 and by the middle of the first week in January trading for over $3.75. I first bought Ripple in June 2016 for $0.006 and considered it a long shot to get to $0.10. The idea that Ripple would ever reach $1.00 with a total supply of 100 billion was unfathomable. For me, this purchase made sense in 2016 because the cryptocurrency trading community was very small. I considered Ripple a nice transition coin for those considering crypto as an investment for the first time, and how blockchain technology will change the world. Something familiar to investors, with Ripple Payment Protocol being used by numerous multi-billion dollar corporations.

Today Ripple is trading at $1.36. While substantially lower than the all-time high of $3.75, it's still an incredibly high price for a coin with 100 billion in their total supply. At $1.36 Ripple has a total market cap of $52,607,368,546 with a circulating supply of almost 39 billion. Which makes it the second highest market cap of all cryptocurrencies that exist, second only to bitcoin.

Is Ripple a good investment at $1.36…? I do have a few concerns, but there is an argument for hold in 2018 for capital appreciation. One concern is that Ripple owns approx. 60% of the coin supply. This makes it possible for Ripple to dramatically affect the price of the coin if they choose. Up to this point, there is no evidence that they have attempted to manipulate the price of Ripple, but there are no guarantees that this will always be the case. Another concern is the total supply, 100 billion coins traditionally speaking, warrants a price per coin under $0.01. Up to this point, however, Ripple has been able to remain the exception to the rule. Lastly, Ripple has never been a favorite among the crypto community by the more traditional crypto investors, and believers in decentralized blockchain technologies.

Now for the upside, and the reasons that I think Ripple could still be a good buy at $1.37. Ripple has proven that there are buyers at over $3.50 that aren’t concerned with the extremely high coin supply. Ripple technology continues to improve, and multiple billion-dollar corporations such as UBS, UniCredit, and Banco Santander are currently using the Ripple Payment Protocol. Contrary to the criteria that I typically use to choose investable coins, my biggest reason for believing in Ripple as a good buy has nothing to do with coin supply or technology. I believe as many do, that at some point in the likely near future, Coinbase will add Ripple to their exchange. If history has taught us anything, 5x to 10x gains are more than reasonable when a new coin is added to Coinbase. Coinbase makes crypto available to the masses and even the hobbyist investors in the space, which of course results in rapid price growth.

I’m interested to hear some of your opinions on Ripple, and as always this is not investment advice. I am not a financial advisor. Most importantly, I encourage all of you to do your own research and make your own decisions. Good luck and happy trading.

@OriginalWorks