About an hour ago, it appeared as if we would not see any major Bitcoin price action today. Right now, the price is surging upward toward the US$4,500 target once again. Another currency making a lot of waves right now is Ripple, or to be more specific, its native XRP currency. With a 13.58% gain over the past 24 hours, things are looking quite good for this digital asset. It is still not a cryptocurrency by any means, though.

XRP Price Shows Some Positive Momentum

The year 2017 has been pretty impressive as far as XRP is concerned, even though the current value may not reflect its momentum entirely. More specifically, at its peak one XRP was worth nearly US$0.40, with the price currently hovering around the US$0.22 mark. Considering how one XRP was worth far less than that a few months ago, no one can deny that the digital asset has seen its fair share of momentum over the past eight months.

That being said, the current XRP price reflects a 13.58% gain over the past 24 hours. Most day traders are having a lot of fun as far as XRP is concerned these days. More specifically, the value of Ripple’s native asset fluctuates so much, one can simply buy low, sell high, and repeat. Although those gains are not necessarily all that lucrative, a lot of smaller profits still add up to major gains over time. Flipping XRP across exchanges can easily result in 10-50% portfolio growth every single day, assuming it is done right.

That doesn’t mean the market is dominated by speculators entirely, though it certainly appears to be. Someone is actively pushing up the XRP price on a regular basis and bringing it back down accordingly. This pump-and-dump mechanism also ensures that the XRP price in U.S. dollars remains virtually the same but fluctuates heavily against the Bitcoin value. With the Bitcoin price going up right now, XRP may very well drop to 3,500 Satoshi in the next few hours.

Considering how Korean exchanges – together with Poloniex’s XRP/BTC market – are effectively dominating the trading volume, it is not hard to see why the prices go up and down by so much. Just this past week, XRP has been valued at $0.19, $0.28, $0.212 and now $0.224 respectively. These wild gains and losses are no accident, mind you, as it is clear someone would like nothing more than to shake out weaker investors and take their money accordingly.  Buying 4 BTC worth of XMR at $0.19 and selling them at $0.28 results in a nice gain, especially when considering that price difference was established within 24 hours.

All of this doesn’t mean Ripple hasn’t seen positive momentum on the technological front, though. There have been various developments throughout 2017 which indicate XRP is only just getting started, even though no one knows for sure what the future may hold in this regard. Right now, it seems an XRP price of US$0.25 is well within reach, but it could equally drop to US$0.17 for all we know.

In the end, XRP is not a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, it is victim to the same market trends as cryptocurrencies and the manipulation that goes along with them. There is good money to be made with XRP regardless of how you may feel about the asset and its project. Speculating on prices is always a risky endeavor, though, and Ripple is often one of the more volatile assets this world has seen. Especially with the Bitcoin price going up, things are more dangerous now than ever before.