There doesn't seem to be any intrinsic gain by using XRP over bitcoin in fact if memory serves me correctly when you fund an XRP wallet you have to burn 10 or 20 of them so you've got to spend five or ten dollars getting your wallet funded. 

Is there really a hook for XRP?

Ripple ATH has been 5$

It seems both XRP and this forum became less relevant since this thread started

Yo everyone! Yes, I'm back!  
I'm surprised how bad Ripple has performed and even my bearish prediction from last year was too bullish: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1381669.msg55906628#msg55906628

I want to apology and make my next prediction much more bearish because right now it is very clear:

Ripple has lost! When Ripple challenged Ethereum 2 years ago for second place and succeded for a short time, Ripple fanboys were very bullish but as I warned, it was only for a short time. Quickly, Ripple lost its position against Ethereum again and some time later it lost against Binance Coin, USDT and even Cardano. It is remarkable for XRP to lose against Cardano because Cardano has a very slow development.

Ripple was hit hard by Gary Gensler (SEC), because Ripple is a centralized SCAM. And Gary Gensler has announced about fighting all centralized Shitcoins.

RIPPLE XRP is SCREWED!
It will get very big problems from SEC and much worse for XRP: it will be forgotten and replaced by new coins! Ripple had always a huge exposure because it was highly ranked at Coinmarketcap and people bought it directly after BTC and ETH. Ripple fraud marketing by bot advertising to deceive people worked very well until it was EXPOSED.
But now it is inevitable for Ripple to lose more importance every day!
New, decentralized and fast coins are rising and Ripple will be losing positions over time.


For everyone still holding XRP: Better get out ASAP. XRP is a scam coin and will go down like a sinking ship!

Maybe con man Garlingcrook will get arrested and his money will be spent for human rights. 

Until now? Developers can create any amount of XRP at any time. Regardless of how the SEC case ends, this project will never be a safe investment.
If someone likes risk, he can play in daytrading and pray that developers don't come up with an idea and create 100x more coins one day.

Its pumped too much already and the price is already too speculative. The volatility we currently see is not healthy and will necessarily lead to further crashes, I think the price will likely go down.

Ripple definitely has been shooting up a lot recently! Any big news surrounding it?

Do we know what was the cause of the rise in the price?
Was there a new news that could affect the price 100% of what it was one day earlier? If there is no such news involved that makes sense fort he price, I am sorry but there is a big chance it was just a pump and dump.