瑞波幣（XRP）的價(jià)值在三天時(shí)間里直線上升。瑞波幣由瑞波公司發(fā)行，旨在為銀行和全球資金轉(zhuǎn)賬提供服務(wù)。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(gè)數(shù)字已飆升至181億美元，增長(zhǎng)了一倍多。

瑞波幣的單價(jià)遠(yuǎn)低于其他加密貨幣，這對(duì)投機(jī)者來(lái)說(shuō)更有吸引力。加密貨幣信息網(wǎng)站CoinMarketCap的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，12月13日近午時(shí)分，瑞波幣的價(jià)格為0.47美元，比前一天收盤(pán)價(jià)上漲66%。

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

什么是瑞波幣？

雖然直到2012年才發(fā)行，但與比特幣相比，瑞波幣的歷史實(shí)際更長(zhǎng)。據(jù)Bitcoin Magazine介紹，瑞波公司的前身創(chuàng)立于2004年。但這家公司一直沒(méi)成什么氣候，直到建立了專(zhuān)業(yè)管理團(tuán)隊(duì)，成員包括網(wǎng)貸平臺(tái)E-Loan聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人克里斯·拉爾森和比特幣交易所MtGox創(chuàng)始人杰德·麥凱萊布。

銀行和其他金融機(jī)構(gòu)已經(jīng)在使用瑞波幣。它們認(rèn)為瑞波公司的系統(tǒng)在價(jià)格上比比特幣等其他數(shù)字貨幣更優(yōu)惠，也更安全。瑞波公司的現(xiàn)金流為正，持有大量瑞波幣，定期向市場(chǎng)投放。

但對(duì)銀行來(lái)說(shuō)，瑞波幣的真正吸引力在于其流動(dòng)性。

Ripple Labs首席執(zhí)行官布拉德·加林豪斯今年早些時(shí)候?qū)Α敦?cái)富》雜志表示：“如今銀行的流動(dòng)性需求來(lái)自那些同業(yè)賬戶(hù)，它們的資金流動(dòng)屬于實(shí)打?qū)嵉氖f(wàn)億級(jí)別。我們堅(jiān)信這是個(gè)低效模式。你可以用數(shù)字資產(chǎn)來(lái)提供流動(dòng)性，而瑞波幣在這個(gè)問(wèn)題上有著獨(dú)一無(wú)二的優(yōu)勢(shì)。比特幣完成一次交易需要四個(gè)小時(shí)。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(guān)注后的連帶效應(yīng)。認(rèn)為加密貨幣可能即將見(jiàn)頂?shù)耐顿Y者開(kāi)始尋找其他長(zhǎng)期回報(bào)率或許更高的投資對(duì)象。只是瑞波公司近幾個(gè)月也實(shí)現(xiàn)了幾個(gè)里程碑。

截至10月份，瑞本公司已將其區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)授權(quán)給了100多家銀行。上個(gè)月，美國(guó)運(yùn)通成為被授權(quán)的一員。同時(shí)，邁克爾·阿靈頓的1億美元加密貨幣對(duì)沖基金將用瑞波幣來(lái)衡量其價(jià)值。

2017年瑞波幣漲了多少？

年初以來(lái)，瑞波幣的價(jià)值已上漲70多倍，市值漲幅接近77倍。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

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%.