Ripple - and more notably its XRP token - has hit the headlines for the third time in just a matter of weeks for its rapid growth. Surpassing the $1 mark in December, and subsequently the $2 mark later in the month, XRP has now broken the $3 barrier, an all-time high for the token, increasing in value by more than 20% within a 24 hour period. 

Entering December at just £0.26, and ending the month at $2.85 before hitting the $3 mark in January, XRP has fast become one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies to date, rising ahead of more established and longstanding cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, over which it has a $26bn lead. Ripple has been ranked at No. 3 on the cryptocurrency leaderboard since late December.

And XRP isn\'t the only cryptocurrency that\'s showing potential for 2018. In fact, of the top 20 cryptocurrencies, all but 5 are increasing in value, with just ethereum, litecoin, Qtum, iota, and EOS falling behind. 

Experts are citing Ripple\'s rapid growth this January as a major contributing factor to the simultaneous increase in the cryptocurrency market as a whole, rising from $667bn to $713bn within just one day.