Although Ripple prices are enmeshed in the market-wide cryptocurrency slump, shrewd investors might have noticed a positive signal buried amid the noise.

What am I talking about? Well, there was a report that SWIFT, Ripple’s main rival, is talking up its efforts in distributed ledger technology (DLT). For the uninitiated, DLT is the core innovation underlying Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum…basically, all the cryptocurrencies in existence.

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Ripple wants to disrupt SWIFT by using these distributed ledger innovations. That’s why it is comical to see SWIFT claiming proficiency in DLT. It’s not their strong suit! The mere fact they are broadcasting their progress on DLT suggests they are playing in Ripple’s world now.

Do you see what this means? If SWIFT truly thought that Ripple is a non-factor, a pesky fly that poses no threat, they would simply ignore DLT. But they are not doing that. They are contorting their entire business to fit the future of cross-border payments.

Of course, there is still a massive size differential between the two firms. SWIFT is a financial juggernaut with more than 11,000 banks on its platform, while Ripple has yet to reach 150 partnerships.

But the momentum is clearly flowing toward Ripple, and that’s what makes it such an interesting investment asset. The potential of XRP prices depends largely on how much market share Ripple can steal from SWIFT.

To most analysts on Wall Street, Ripple is facing a Herculean task. SWIFT has a virtual monopoly on interbank payments. How can Ripple, a startup with indecipherable technology, possibly compete? It is like pushing against the ocean.

I disagree.

For a company as big and ancient as SWIFT, to reinvent itself is nearly impossible. Its entire business is built on outdated technology. Like a city connected by old, crumbling sewers, it will take enormous cost and inconvenience to simply keep the system functioning.

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By comparison, Ripple is lean, modern, and adaptable. It was born into the world of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, giving it the home-court advantage when it comes to DLT.

Analyst Take

We are going to leave our $10.00 Ripple price prediction for 2018 unchanged. The fact that SWIFT is already sensing XRP on their heels is a sign that this cryptocurrency is approaching maturity.

Source: profitconfidential.com