Ripple (XRP-USD) is in the news for many reasons. Some bullish investors point to what they hope will be a positive outcome in the company’s lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, I believe that’s not what’s really fueling investor sentiment. I believe investors have either decided that Ripple will win its lawsuit. Or they simply don’t care. Cryptocurrencies are volatile enough. Why take a large position in a coin that would be destined to drop sharply if the company loses its lawsuit?

I wrote about Ripple for the first time in January 2021. At the time, I had concerns about an ongoing lawsuit filed by the SEC. Fifteen months later, the lawsuit is still ongoing. Despite that, investors haven’t been shy about putting money into XRP-USD. At one point, the altcoin cracked the $1 level in 2021. And trading at 71 cents as I write this, it’s still well above the price it was in January 2021.

I suspect that more investors are choosing XRP because they believe it will have utility beyond its role as a digital currency that can be used to facilitate cross-border transactions. For example, the company recently launched its “Creator Fund” for developers to initiate projects on the XRPL ledger, which is the public ledger that uses XRP-USD as its native currency.

Demand for non-fungible token (NFT) hosting continues to grow. In fact, it just added Rare Air Media to its list of developers. Rare Air Media plans to create NFTs on the XRPL on behalf of Michael Jordan. In fact, the first batch is supposed to launch sometime in the second quarter.

This comes on the heels of a presentation by QNB Group. The bank unveiled its cross-border payment solutions and heaped praise on RippleNet (the payment platform for Ripple) for how it improves the cross-border payment experience.

Fifteen months ago, I expressed my belief that Ripple, the company, intrigued me more than the XRP coin. Today, I may feel a little differently about XRP-USD. With that said, the broader crypto community may not care about the lawsuit. But I’ll wait for a resolution before making an investment.

On the date of publication, Chris Markoch did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.