Is ripple mining possible?
Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Ripple mining is not possible. The only individuals who can generate XRP are the ones who actually created it. Only 100 billion XRP coins have been released till date and every transaction would eliminate the XRP used. Once an XRP has been used, it cannot be further used in the next transaction. This basically implies that XRP would gradually be exhausted as more people use the Ripple network to process transactions or simply use XRP, thus raising its value in the process.
How you can you still own Ripple by Mining?
One can mine a different cryptocurrency, let's say ethereum or monero and then use exchanges to convert them to Ripple. Many people have already started buying XRP owing to its advanced structure and the gradual increase in its price.
Should one buy ripple now?
Due to a recent 50 % increase in ripple value, people are drawn to buy Ripple. But, I would say that it is currently not the best time to buy it.
That rapid increase in ripple was due to the fact that the protocol on which Ripple labs was working has finished its development stage. But still, its testing and fixing bugs could take at least half a year time frame.
After that announcement its value has started falling again, today it is showing 15 % decrease in value. And also in this bearish market (decreasing value), it will take about a month for it to stabilize, then it would be wise to buy it.
And when Ripple labs release a working version of the protocol, the value of ripple will skyrocket. So, my advice for now is to wait for the market to stabilize and then invest in ripple.