I recently came across an interesting article about Ripple that I thought I might as well share with this great community. I read this prior to adding XRP to my crypto portfolio and the entire article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ripple-and-xrp-are-more-stable-than-you-think_us_591cb3bee4b0b28a33f62915
This information might be considered old to some individuals, but I am quite new to the crypto world so I wasn't aware of some aspects of it. In all honesty, I was initially quite skeptical about Ripple, especially because of SWIFT and their own DLT that they are testing (http://www.coindesk.com/swift-selects-hyperledger-tech-cross-border-blockchain-test/). However, the article from Huffington Post sheds some light on the topic and explains the strengths of Ripple. I hope that this post and information that I am sharing is helpful or useful to someone who needs it.