I bought some ripple since it was the cheapest "coin" that the exchanges offered, but became doubtful of its perceived value after some research on this coin.

And it's supposed to replace SWIFT, an "outdated system" that the banks have been utilizing since 45 years ago... please correct me if I'm misinformed, but it seems that the market cap of ripple far exceeds the value of the market it is trying to take a hold of.