1- Operations :
Ripple is working with some of the biggest financial institutions around the world. Ripple aims to power the whole financial sector by making instant transactions possible at a fraction of the current costs. It provides a frictionless experience for global fund transfer using the blockchain technology. In future, it is expected to act as a liquidity solution for the cross-border transactions. Banks and Payment Providers can use XRP to settle multi-currency transactions to minimize the overheads.

Right now, SWIFT facilitates most of the international payment transfers. Whenever we make any cross-border transaction, we need to provide the SWIFT code of the branch of the bank. SWIFT has a monopoly over cross-border settlements. It has more than 11,000 financial institutions and 200 countries on its network. Ripple is associating with big financial institutions and working with many banks to incorporate its blockchain technology. It’s hard to say how soon or whether Ripple will be able to take SWIFT down or not. However, it can indeed break the monopoly of SWIFT over the international fund transfer.

2- Powerful Technology :
Ripple can process 1500 transactions per second, which is huge as compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoins can handle up to 7 transactions per second. Ripple’s technology is powerful enough to replace international payment systems such as VISA while reducing the cost and allow instant transfers.

3- Trust :
A large number of banks from around the world are actively working with Ripple to implement its technology over their payment infrastructure. It makes Ripple trustworthy, and investors find XRP to be a comparatively safer bet as compared to other cryptocurrencies.

4- Cryptocurrencies As Safe Haven :
Cryptocurrencies performance during 2017 will be a determining factor for their demand in 2018. 2017 saw the price of XRP surging rapidly during the first half. Other cryptocurrencies won’t find it easy to copy the market development of Ripple. Investors interested in the digital currencies as a haven for the uncertain times will find Ripple as a promising candidate.

5- Familiarity :
Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most traded cryptocurrencies. A large percentage of cryptocurrency traders and investors are still not familiar with Ripple despite its promising technology. Once, a few institutional investors join the network and Ripple permeates the mainstream investor’s community like Bitcoin and Ethereum, an influx of trend followers can make the XRP prices shoot through the roof.