Ripple Surges 50% To Become Second-Largest Cryptocurrency

 XRP tokens rose above $2, hitting a fresh, all-time high. Shutterstock 

 Ripple's XRP token climbed more than 50% today, becoming the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization (market cap). 

 The XRP token has been having a blockbuster month, appreciating more than 700% since starting out December with a price of roughly $0.25, additional CoinMarketCap figures show. 

 The digital currency rose to as much as $2.20, climbing more than 50% in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. 

 [Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.] 

 A Great Month For Ripple 

 The digital currency has enjoyed several brief rallies this month. 

 One example is the sharp increase XRP experienced roughly mid-December, where it surged more than 90% in 24 hours, reaching roughly $0.87 as investors responded to news that Ripple completed its cryptographic lockup of tokens. 

 XRP's price approached $1.50 earlier this week, pushing higher amid news that Tokyo-based SBI Ripple Asia announced a consortium created to explore how distributed ledger technology could be used for payment cards. 

 The cryptocurrency enjoyed another short rally approximately one week later, climbing to $1.24 as it benefited from sustained momentum and robust Asian trading. 

 Shifting Investor Priorities 

 More recently, analysts have focused on the shifting sentiment of investors, emphasizing that XRP has been benefiting from these changes.Originally, many of those who advocated cryptocurrencies favored these digital assets because of their decentralized nature, said Marius Rupsys, a digital currency trader.These market participants disliked Ripple's centralized nature, opting to trade digital currencies that were decentralized, he stated.However, the digital currency market's size has swelled this year, climbing from roughly $17.7 billion to more than $600 billion this month, CoinMarketCap figures show.According to Rupsys, the new investors that are flooding the market are more interested in the return they might generate than the decentralization and immutability that many Libertarians would value.This has provided significant tailwinds for Ripple, which has in turn risen sharply in price.Disclosure: I own some Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether.