Ripple’s XRP is one of the most divisive assets in the cryptocurrency space. Not only does it create such divisive and polarizing rhetoric, but it also has two severe ends of the spectrum to it as well. If you look at Bitcoin, for instance, those who detract it as an asset are usually, for the most part, utterly oblivious to how it works.
Generally, they’ll be people of an older persuasion and cemented into their ways of thinking – usually centered predominantly around centralized finance and the tools, strategies, and investment techniques that come with it. XRP, on the other hand, is unique. It’s rare to find anyone with a decent grasp of cryptocurrency, and I was particularly excited by the concept of XRP. You could make a strong case that those who are serious investors actively dislike the project.
We’re not going to sit here and tear into Ripple or XRP – but we’re also not going to pretend that there are social media “influencers” – who are essentially chancers, who have the “XRP Army” on strings saying that it’s going to go to $589 and all sorts of other nonsensical predictions we’ve heard since 2017. However, following the landmark success against the SEC last year – you would anticipate that the price would’ve broken out and not stayed at $0.50 for the best part of a year.
Practical XRP Use Cases
XRP can be used on various crypto-based platforms. However, despite XRP-ultras claiming on X that it’s partnered with every single one of the world’s top 100 banks, it does struggle to have a real use case, especially among casual retail users who couldn’t care less about the tech. It’s become a popular token choice for cryptocurrency casinos because it’s relatively easy to calculate denomination with the US Dollar.
Using Bitcoin to play casino games remains the cryptocurrency of choice for those who play different variants of casino games online with their digital assets. Using the most visible and well-known crypto for casino gaming definitely has its advantages; most notably, there’s more liquidity and more off-ramps for those looking to withdraw their funds quickly into centralized currencies and subsequently onto their bank account.
A Bitcoin casino utilizes the blockchain, and further validation for the cryptocurrency comes via ETFs, which have brought in a lot more respect and capital from traditional institutions, the likes of Blackrock and JP Morgan, to name a few. Playing casino games with Bitcoin remains a small, niche part of the casino gaming market – but over the next few years, those that champion the use of the blockchain and digital assets to play casino games will be hoping to see an increase as more people take an interest in the market.
The SEC Anti-Climax
Many believed the price of XRP was artificially low because of the SEC’s ongoing case against them from December 2020 until the summer of last year. Following their win against the SEC, the price of XRP increased by 75% within 24 hours of the decision being announced.
If all of the noise was to be believed—this was all that was needed—the next stop was $589, apparently. So, nearly an entire year later, why is the price only 2 cents higher than before the settlement? Well, it hasn’t helped that the SEC has returned for round 2 and accused the two heads of Ripple of benefiting from illegal security sales and suing them for $2 billion.
Although the SEC is still going after Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, XRP has stagnated for years. Investors have simply moved onto much more serious projects that have managed to steal a march on XRP while the SEC tied them up in the courtroom. This continuation has played a big part in investors’ losing interest.
Final Thoughts
With every other cryptocurrency in the top 20 seeing significant gains this calendar year, has XRP missed out? Or is it just at its natural price, surpassed by a dozen better projects? Alternatively, is it simply a case that it had its day in 2017 and that the entirely centralized nature of the token, combined with the fact that Ripple executives hold so much of it, means that it’s not an attractive investment for enthusiasts? In our opinion, it’s both.
Crypto is a relentless market, and its 24/7 nature means that projects that aren’t continually innovative and inventive fall behind—even if they did show a lot of promise in previous bull runs, as XRP did in 2017. You’d think that even if the judge throws at this latest SEC lawsuit, XRP will still be sitting in the dock of the proverbial bay while the other altcoins sail toward brighter horizons. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of impossibility if it did experience a jump in price. However, it seems that the dated project and the army of disillusioned and frighteningly uninformed masses who have accumulated this oversupplied token have been left holding the bag as everybody else made gains since the beginning of this year.
