Ripple's XRP: Giving the Third-Largest Cryptocurrency

'P4man' is an active bitcoin miner and investor with an academic background in economy and IT. He has been a member of the online discussion forum Bitcoin Talk since September, 2011.

In this opinion piece, P4man looks at the cryptocurrency market to see if there is a credible investment alternative to bitcoin, focusing this time on XRP, the native token for blockchain startup Ripple's consensus protocol.

I have to admit, I've dreaded writing this part of my series.

Among investors, Ripple is one the most divisive cryptocurrencies around – it's either loved or despised, both with equal passion. Even more than ethereum, I believe, it's misunderstood because it's so different from bitcoin.

But, being number three in market cap (actually number two, but more on that later), I can't really avoid writing about