Very interesting discussion. I am new to Ripple and I am trying to understand whether it would make sense to invest in some XRP. I am not here for quick bucks, I am here as a big fan of blockchains.

I invest confidently in BTC because I believe in the technology. The more the technology becomes popular, the more BTC will be worth. This is because you need BTC to use the blockchain and the BTC protocol does not allow issuance of BTC beyond the planned maximum cap.

I am interested in Ripple because I read it is a very efficient blockchain system and because many banks are adopting it. The problem is, if I understand correctly, that increase in popularity of Ripple does not mean increase of value of XRP because (i) banks do not use XPR for their Ripple transactions (not clear what they use...maybe their own coins?) and (ii) because Ripple is a private company and the Ripple blockchain is controlled by this company, thus they could issue more coins if they want to do so (even if this would create inflation and decrease the value of the coins they already hold).

Is this correct?