忘了比特幣吧，一種新的加密貨幣正冉冉升起

瑞波幣（XRP）的價值在三天時間里直線上升。瑞波幣由瑞波公司發行，旨在為銀行和全球資金轉賬提供服務。12月10日，這家公司的市值僅略高于90億美元。到了12月13日上午，這個數字已飆升至181億美元，增長了一倍多。

瑞波幣的單價遠低于其他加密貨幣，這對投機者來說更有吸引力。加密貨幣信息網站CoinMarketCap的數據顯示，12月13日近午時分，瑞波幣的價格為0.47美元，比前一天收盤價上漲66%。

瑞波幣價格躥升使萊特幣在加密貨幣價值榜上的排名滑落至第五位。但瑞波幣和萊特幣的價格依然都遠低于比特幣和以太坊。

什么是瑞波幣？

雖然直到2012年才發行，但與比特幣相比，瑞波幣的歷史實際更長。據Bitcoin Magazine介紹，瑞波公司的前身創立于2004年。但這家公司一直沒成什么氣候，直到建立了專業管理團隊，成員包括網貸平臺E-Loan聯合創始人克里斯·拉爾森和比特幣交易所MtGox創始人杰德·麥凱萊布。

銀行和其他金融機構已經在使用瑞波幣。它們認為瑞波公司的系統在價格上比比特幣等其他數字貨幣更優惠，也更安全。瑞波公司的現金流為正，持有大量瑞波幣，定期向市場投放。

但對銀行來說，瑞波幣的真正吸引力在于其流動性。

Ripple Labs首席執行官布拉德·加林豪斯今年早些時候對《財富》雜志表示：“如今銀行的流動性需求來自那些同業賬戶，它們的資金流動屬于實打實的十萬億級別。我們堅信這是個低效模式。你可以用數字資產來提供流動性，而瑞波幣在這個問題上有著獨一無二的優勢。比特幣完成一次交易需要四個小時。瑞波幣則只要3.6秒?！?

瑞波幣為何大幅上漲？

瑞波幣行情似乎是比特幣引起極大關注后的連帶效應。認為加密貨幣可能即將見頂的投資者開始尋找其他長期回報率或許更高的投資對象。只是瑞波公司近幾個月也實現了幾個里程碑。

截至10月份，瑞本公司已將其區塊鏈技術授權給了100多家銀行。上個月，美國運通成為被授權的一員。同時，邁克爾·阿靈頓的1億美元加密貨幣對沖基金將用瑞波幣來衡量其價值。

2017年瑞波幣漲了多少？

年初以來，瑞波幣的價值已上漲70多倍，市值漲幅接近77倍。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

Ripple, which was designed for banks and global money transfers, has seen the value of its XRP digital currency skyrocket in the past three days. On Dec. 10, the company had a market capitalization of just over $9 billion. As of Wednesday morning, that market cap had more than doubled to $18.1 billion.

Prices for an individual Ripple XRP are considerably more affordable than its alternatives, making it even more attractive to cryptocurrency speculators. As of late Wednesday morning, a single XRP cost just 47 cents, a 66% jump from yesterday’s close, according to CoinMarketCap.

This surge has pushed Litecoin down to the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency. Both Ripple and Litecoin are still far below Bitcoin and Ethereum, however.

What is Ripple?

While it wasn’t released until 2012, Ripple is actually older than Bitcoin. The original version of the company was created in 2004, according to Bitcoin Magazine. It never really went anywhere, though, until it put a professional management team in place, which included E-Loan co-founder Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, founder of MtGox.

Ripple’s cryptocurrency has been adopted by banks and other financial institutions. Those companies believe Ripple’s system offers both better prices and is more secure than other digital currencies, including Bitcoin. It allows users to send, receive, and hold any currency in a decentralized way via the Ripple network. The company is cash-flow positive and holds a vast store of XRP, which it periodically releases into the market.

But the real appeal of Ripple’s XRP for banks is its liquidity.

“The liquidity needs of banks today is managed with literally ten trillion of float that sits in these nostro and vostro accounts. We believe very strong this is an inefficient model. You can use digital assets to fund liquidity, and Ripple is uniquely positioned to capitalize on that. Bitcoin takes four hours to settle a transaction. XRP takes 3.6 seconds,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told Fortune earlier this year.

Why is Ripple surging?

Ripple’s rise seems to be a (pardon the pun) ripple effect from the surge of interest in Bitcoin. Investors who believe cryptocurrency may be reaching a peak are looking for others that could provide a greater return in the long term. The company has hit some notable milestones in recent months, though.

As of October, Ripple had licensed its blockchain technology to over 100 banks. Last month, American Express came on board. And Michael Arrington’s $100 million cryptocurrency hedge fund will be valued in Ripple’s XRP.

How much has Ripple grown in 2017?

Year to date, Ripple’s XRP has seen its value jump more than 7,000% and its market cap increase by nearly 7,700%.