Why I Don't Buy Ripple

When I first read up on Ripple, I got quite excited. This new, affordable crypto currency was trending and ready to take off. According to everything I read, it was a BUY BUY BUY. But then I got my first coins in. Some Bitcoin, some Ethereum, and some Litecoin. I knew that these were somewhat safe bets. A far less volatile coin is a better bet than something that's got the potential to swing.

My first encounter with the opportunity to buy some Ripple ($XRP). It was sitting right around $2.69, and that was off a 30% or so gain on the day. It was exciting. But as I waited to get my GDAX from Coinbase set up, I really got a feel what was going on. After only a few days, I've decided to leave Ripple alone, and here's why.

It's Way Too Much Hype

I wish you could read some of the things I see on Twitter. 
  • "$4 coming tomorrow"
  • "Get on this Ripple now cuz we goin to the moon"
  • "like I said $10 to $15 by mid Feb"
  • "$XRP look ready to run"
I could go on for a long time with all the tweets trying to hype the newbies up to buy Ripple. THIS IS NOT HOW INVESTMENTS ARE MADE. Hype is designed to help those already in the game. If you jump in the game after the fact, you're missing the boat...doesn't matter if it's Ripple. Not one of these folks back up their statements with fact. All hype...ignore it. 

There is no New Bitcoin

So many folks talk about Ripple being the next bitcoin. Yes, the gains lately have been pretty darn substantial. But Bitcoin was also at $0.15 at one point. Now that so many players have entered the game, there is no longer the interest focused on any single coin. I don't believe that Ripple will break single digits. If I'm wrong, good for those that bought in, but there's way too much out there to draw enough attention to Ripple. 

Coinbase, Coinbase, Coinbase

As a US based investor in cryptocurrency, I use Coinbase. Getting started with Coinbase is extremely easy. But when you want anything outside of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, or Litecoin, it gets a bit more complicated. You'd have to create an account on Coinbase, buy Ethereum, move your Ethereum to Binance using GDAX, and finally, you can purchase a broader array of coins. While it's a lot easier to do than it sounds, it's still extremely tedious. There's so much activity in the world of crypto coins that servers can barely keep up. Try uploading your identification and you may be the subject of unresponsiveness from Coinbase. It's really annoying. 

On top of that, Coinbase has no immediate plans to add Ripple to their portfolio for US based people to purchase directly. Understanding that 30% of investors are in the US, that's still a lot of folks. Had Coinbase added in Ripple early on, I might be for it. But their announcement that they won't be posting any new currencies in early 2018 sent Ripple tumbling by about 10%. If Ripple had true potential, this wouldn't have mattered, because investors would be all over it. 


If you (or I) had gotten into Ripple early on, I might say hold onto it. I don't think it's going to go into sub-3 any time soon. But don't buy it now, you're chasing hype, which is a lot like chasing hopes and dreams. If you don't believe me, just follow it for a couple of days, and track what you would have made had you purchased it. Ripple is not a hold, it's not a buy, it's just another coin that doesn't have the momentum to take off. 

DISCLAIMER: None of the preceding is intended to be investment advice. These are only my opinions. Full disclosure, my links to Coinbase include referrals. It actually benefits you to use them because we will both get an extra $10 worth of BTC for free if you deposit at least $100 to Coinbase. Thanks in advance if you follow the links when you make your accounts — and even if you don’t, I hope this guide helps you out!

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