I think this article gives a great perspective on the recent rise of Ripple. I do like the idea that Ripple is connected to the financial industry so it has a new kind of acceptance for a crypto.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-becomes-largest-altcoin-as-bitcoiners-issue-warnings
Ripple (XRP) has overtaken Ethereum as the largest altcoin by market cap in a surge which has divided the cryptocurrency community.
After the payment network’s token reached as much as $2.65 on some exchanges this week, investors are celebrating returns which have topped 1,000 percent in just three weeks. At the start of December, XRP traded at just $0.24.