Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has spoken about a few things that could benefit XRP:
* Clear regulatory environment: The ongoing lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC has cast a shadow over XRP. A clear decision on XRP's regulatory status would be positive for the cryptocurrency.
* Adoption by financial institutions: XRP is designed to be a bridge currency for cross-border payments between banks. Wider adoption of Ripple's products by financial institutions would increase demand for XRP.
* XRP ETF approval: An exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks XRP would make it easier for investors to buy and hold XRP, potentially increasing its price.

Bitcoin transaction fees surged significantly following the recent halving event, which cut the mining reward for miners in half. This increase can be attributed to a few factors:
* Reduced block subsidy: With fewer bitcoins awarded per block, miners rely more on transaction fees to maintain profitability.
* Competition for block space: As the block reward shrinks, miners compete more intensely to have their transactions included in blocks, driving up fees.
* Potential increase in demand: The halving historically precedes bull runs in bitcoin's price. If demand for bitcoin transactions rises alongside the price, fees could stay elevated.
The high fees have sparked concerns about the usability of bitcoin for small transactions. Some solutions are being explored to address scalability issues and potentially reduce fees in the long term.
0:00 XRP
5:36 XRP article 2
13:22 banking devastation
17:04 Solana
23:28 Bitcoin