Ripple (XRP)’s centralized nature is a good thing for Stellar Lumens (XLM)

There are growing voices in the crypto community arguing that Ripple (XRP) is not a cryptocurrency. And there is some truth to it, considering that the majority of ripple coins are held by one company. Then of course there is the fact that even as Ripple continues to get adopted by financial institutions, Ripple’s price has remained relatively unchanged at below a dollar. While this could be due to the prevailing market forces, there is also the fact that there is no incentive for Ripple’s price to rise.

Ripple is best positioned for adoption if it remains at its current prices, since it makes it relatively cheap and effective for the banking system. There is also the fact that Ripple (XRP) the currency, and Ripple the platform have no bearing on each other. As such, even as banks continue to adapt it, there is no reason as to why the same should translate to a good return for investors in Ripple (XRP). In essence, while Ripple is good news for the financial sector, it’s nothing to smile about for investors.

Unfortunately many people are yet to understand this fact. Ripple was never designed to be a speculative asset, that can shoot up in price at any time. Stability is its selling point. As more investors get to learn of this fact, they will most likely pivot towards cryptos that offer the same services as Ripple, but are decentralized. One such crypto that is set to benefit in the long-run is Stellar Lumens (XLM). There are a number of reasons to support this analogy.

Firstly, Stellar is decentralized, which means that no single entity can control its price. This alone is a major incentive for anyone looking to put their money in this crypto. Then there is the fact that Stellar has a similar functionality to Ripple. It allows for fast, reliable and almost free transfer of money across borders. That’s pretty much the same thing that Ripple does, only that it is highly centralized. But the biggest factor to Lumen’s long-term growth is the potential for its price to grow as its levels of adoption grows.

Unlike Ripple (XRP) which can be controlled by one entity, Stellar is decentralized, and is completely valued by the market. As such, anytime it gets adopted, you can expect the forces of demand and supply to push its value up significantly. Once the crypto market rebounds and the stellar platform gets adopted more by the financial industry, you can expect the value of Stellar Lumens (XLM) to grow significantly. Chances of this crypto hitting $1 within 2018 are quite high.

At its current price, Stellar is definitely a good buy. The recent price drop is largely attributed to the high fees on HitBTC after this crypto was listed there. Otherwise, from a technical perspective, Stellar is probably at its lowest price, and makes for a good entry point for a long-term investor. The most successful investors know that the best time to buy good assets is when there is blood on the streets. And at the moment, the Stellar Lumens (XLM) market is bleeding.