What is happening to Ripple right now, why is it behaving so much different to other altcoins / btc (e.g. didn't rise that much when btc was hyped, now rising while btc / alts are dropping)
Ripple is one the stable value currency in the altcoin market but recent days price spiking abnormal in the price chart. I think that as bitcoin value dumped in the market so many investors changes the bitcoin to different altcoins. In that list you will find the XRP is the best potential coin as a choice for the investors.
After some time once bitcoin started increasing then all the investors changes their bitcoin will goes back there itself from this coin. So think 10 times before you want to invest.