What’s behind Ripple’s rapid surge? Panicked investors hunting for crypto bargains.

Blockchain company Ripple has been making headlines after its cryptocurrency, XRP, saw a 15x value gain in just three weeks following almost five years of no growth. Ripple cofounder Chris Larsen even briefly passed Mark Zuckerberg in net worth earlier this week, according to Forbes.

Ripple’s claim to fame is its ability to transact cross-border payments in 10 to 15 seconds compared to the three days it takes on Swift, the 44-year-old global financial messaging cooperative used by over 11,000 institutions in 200 countries today. But it’s not a belief in the value of the Ripple platform that seems to be driving the recent clamor for its coins. Instead, the sudden interest in XRP seems to be driven largely by fear — fear among regular people worldwide that they could miss out on the large payoffs cryptocurrency investments seem to be promising.
https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/05/whats-behind-ripples-rapid-surge-panicked-investors-hunting-for-crypto-bargains/