Could Ripple (XRP) Smart Contracts Pump Some Life Into The Price Of XRP?

Ripple (XRP) recently pumped some life into a once defunct Codius Smart Contracts Platform. It was initially launched in 2014 but was later shelved due to lack of interest at that time and some technical problems with the platform. Opening a distributed ledger for smart contracts is no easy feat as it means making the ledger more prone to attacks. It also means giving up centralized control which puts the distributed ledger at a risk unless measures are taken beforehand to safeguard against such vulnerabilities. Ripple (XRP)’s former CTO, Stefan Thomas  will apparently be spearheading the Codius project to compete with Ethereum (ETH) , EOS (EOS) and Cardano (ADA) by launching a “more decentralized” and “more scalable” smart contracts platform. Ripple’s former CTO is also eager to challenge the current mode of online monetization by launching a platform that will reward websites with micropayments from users with every visit. Whether or not those payments will be made in XRP is not known yet. However, he further mentioned that Codius will be able to handle other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Taking a shot at Ethereum (ETH), he highlighted its various vulnerabilities and mentioned how people approach him to say they don’t want to write in this “awkward language” (Solidity) as it is “too expensive” and “not flexible enough”. These recent developments vindicate the fact that Ripple (XRP) is not giving up on the smart contracts fight with Ethereum (ETH) and that it is not satisfied sitting at third place. Ripple (XRP) CEO, Brad Garlinghouse also frequently criticizes Bitcoin (BTC) for being sluggish and often calls it “the Napster of cryptocurrencies”. This goes on to show how aggressive the Ripple Team is and that they are not ready to settle, a quality which any investor should admire in the company they are investing in. However, the catch is that investing in XRP is not the same as investing in Ripple. Technical analysis at this point completely favors a bullish outlook for XRP at least for this year. The price has traded well against USD and has performed spectacularly against Bitcoin (BTC). All things considered, XRP could be poised for another run up for the year. The next bullish impulse has the potential to push the price of XRP past the $4 mark and to make new highs for the year. RSI on both XRP/USD and the XRP/BTC charts point to a pending run up. Recent news about Codius and a favorable ruling in Ripple’s ongoing lawsuit could be instrumental to the next bullish wave. Ripple (XRP) also has a history of making independent moves which means it is possible for the coin to uptick even as Bitcoin (BTC) trade sideways for the time being. While Ripple (XRP) does appear to be a lot cheaper at its current price of $0.68, down from a high of $3.2, it is pertinent to note though that this valuation is heavily based on the success of Ripple (the company) as XRP currently does not have any significant use cases of its own. So, any investment decision therefore should be made with caution and keeping future prospects in mind.