## Ripple's $2.5 Billion Bet: Building the Next Financial Giant (But Is XRP Really the Prize?)
**The Infrastructure Play**
Over the past twelve months, Ripple has deployed nearly $2.5 billion into a series of strategic acquisitions. On the surface, this might look like typical corporate empire-building. But dig deeper, and you'll notice a clear pattern: Ripple is assembling the pieces for a blockchain-based financial infrastructure system where XRP could theoretically serve as the connective tissue between different currencies and payment networks.
Think of it this way: just as Amazon built AW