We all know that Ripple is quite different from the other cryptocurrencies out there as it is not calling for an all-out war against fiat, banks and governments. Instead, it is planning to work along with them to eliminate the financial problems of global and cross-border money transfers, making them lightning fast and surprisingly cheaper. The question to be asked here is:
"Is it a GOOD different or a BAD different?"
Well, the answer depends on who you are and what you want to do with it. If you're some shady drug dealer, a smuggler, or you're laundering money, then I'm afraid it’s a "bad different" for you because the company plans to work along with the governments and regulated by them.
On the other hand, if you are an investor and plan to invest in Ripple or XRP, then it’s a "different" you'd appreciate. As Ripple is lower in price than it top two competitors, namely, bitcoin and ethereum and it has a great potential to grow. But why the Ripple will grow? Why XRP prices will surge in the near future?
Because the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and his team have a genius plan, which is being executed in a stepwise manner. And if you give it a little bit of thought you'll be able to see where the steps would lead. Well, let me simplify it for you. Ripple company is partnering with banks, exchanges and payment companies throughout the world making them use its product XCurrent. But then why the XRP price isnt booming right now?
Because XCurrent is a blockchain based system to transfer funds much more rapidly than the existing systems without using the Ripple's token aka XRP. There is another Ripple product called XRapid which uses the Ripple's token, XRP, to settle cross-border payments, making the whole processes faster as well as much cheaper than the existing alternatives.
It would have been a very difficult pitch to make the banks change their cross-border money transfer system from traditional currency to the digital currency, in this case being XRP. So, what Ripple plans is to first make the banks use their XCurrent system and then making them realize that in addition to rapid transactions, they can also enjoy the luxury of very low costs on cross-border payment settlements by using the XRapid system. Which will make them use XRP and the price of XRP will surge.
Suppose that Ripple is a Company that makes cars and roads. XRapid are the cars and XCurrent is a network of roads. It would be foolish to introduce the cars when there are no roads to drive them on. What Ripple is doing is that it is laying down the network or roads (XCurrent) before introducing the cars (XRapid). After that the banks who would be using FIAT (Donkey Carts) would be left in dust against the banks using the cars (XRapid).
Right now, more than a hundred companies have already partnered with Ripple, including Moneygram, Lian Lian Internatioanal, Al Rajhi Bank, Central Bank of Saudi Arabia and many more giants. Western Union has also joined Ripple recently to use its XRapid system. So, you might want to hold your Ripple and get ready for an XRP price spike in the near future.